• Inside the Lincoln Sitting Room

    Lincoln Home

    National Historic Site Illinois

Cook House

John Roll, Springfield builder, and friend of Abraham Lincoln, purchased lots and built this house in the early 1850s. Roll sold the house for $1,000 in December, 1853. The house was described as having five rooms with a root cellar, cistern, well, and stables.

In December 1857, John A. Mason obtained ownership of the house. Mason used this house as rental property before selling it in 1867 for $1,200.

In 1860 and 1861, Mrs. Sarah Cook rented the property. A widow with a number of children, Mrs. Cook rented some of the rooms in the house. Earlier, Mrs. Cook had operated a photographic studio in Springfield. The house passed through numerous owners before being aquired by the National Park Service.

The Cook house is a two-story wood frame Greek Revival with a hip roof, clapboard siding, cornerboards, gables, dormer, and side porch. There is a full-width front porch on concrete block piers, a pressed metal ceiling, and square balusters. The front entry has a tripartite with diamond panes transom.

 
Cook House
Cook House
NPS Photo

Did You Know?

Photo of Robert Lincoln

Robert Lincoln was the only son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln to have children and grandchildren.  He had two daughters and one son.  The son died as a teenager.  The great-grandchildren of Abraham Lincoln lived full lives, but had no descendants. Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Illinois