Cook, to the north of the iron-ore belt and beyond the Great Laurentian Highland Divide, lies in the fertile valley of the Little Fork River and, at one time, was covered with dense forests.

Lumber companies were responsible for the opening of this vast region north of Virginia. The Virginia Lumber Company, eventually absorbed by the Virginia and Rainy Lake Lumber Company, began to lay a logging road through the district in 1902 and by 1906-07, offered services to the Canadian border. The first settlers, arriving in February, 1902, were 18 Finnish and Scandinavian homesteaders who came from the iron ranges, where they had worked in mines and woods. Mining had not been to their liking, so they had left for the Little Fork Valley, probably attracted by the similarity of its climate and countryside to their native lands. They settled by squatters' rights, but soon many abandoned their claims because most of the town site was swamp. The site was accessible only by way of Tower and Lake Vermilion. In winter, travelers could go direct by stage across the lake and through the timber. In summer, however, though two steamboats operated from Tower to Joyce's Landing, a distance of 30 miles, the rest of the trip to the settlement had to be made either on foot or horseback.

The town site was not surveyed until 1904-05. It first was called Ashawa, Chippewa for "across the river." Since this name was similar to that of a community in southern Minnesota, it was changed in 1910 to Cook, in honor of a partner in an early lumber firm the Cook and O'Brien Company. As the land was cleared, agriculture developed. The Little Fork Valley has proved to be one of the best clover lands in the country. More farmers came to the community, ut it was not until 1926 that Cook was incorporated as a village.

Dairying is the leading industry. The Little Fork Creamery Association, a cooperative, has constructed a $10,000 plant. Diversified farming is carried on in the surrounding region, with hay and small grains the leading crops. The Cook-Marvel Flour Mill grinds home-grown wheat into flour and middling. The Cook seed cleaning plant is one of the best of its kind in the State.

Form Cook evergreen trees are shipped to all parts of the United States for Christmas use. The Christmas tree industry is carried on in other parts of the Arrowhead, but Cook is its headquarters. The A.J. Thomas Company, employing approximately 75 men during the holiday season, sprays the trees with green or silver paint to prevent the needles from falling. In one year, this concern shipped about 80 carloads. The Northern Evergreen Company ships more wreaths and roping than trees, farmers supplying cedar and balsam boughs and ground pine.

MacDonald's Quarry (US 53, seven miles south) is one of two known deposits of green granite in the world. Anderson's Quarry (Co. Rd. 75, 1.5 miles west) produces a dark, grayish-blue granite.

Cook is an outfitting point for sportsmen, being near Lake Vermilion and several other popular resort lakes, including those on the international boundary.

St. Louis County School 114 (junction State 1 and 3rd Ave.), completed in 1932 and supervised by the St. Louis County Board of Education, is one of the largest and most modern rural schools in the State.