IC Genealogical Society to meet at Cooks Run Trout Feeding Station
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IRON RIVER -- The Iron County Genealogical Society will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday at the historic Cooks Run Trout Feeding Station. Please note the change of venue.
The station is about 13 miles west of Iron River, off U.S. 2, take the first gravel road to the left after the Forest Highway 16 intersection, then proceed about a half-mile on a rural, rustic road to an area on the left, which is a small gravel pit. This will be the parking area.
Participants will need sturdy walking shoes to walk a distance into the property and should bring a flashlight for inside viewing.
The Cooks Run Trout Feeding Station was a Civil Works Administration project in 1933-34 for the Michigan Department of Conservation. Trout-rearing chambers on Cooks Run, foot and automobile bridges, and a caretaker's cabin were built along with auxiliary structures.
The trout feeding station provided many trout to the waters of Iron County throughout the years and had various caretakers of the facility, with the last caretaker being Dino Giannola of Watersmeet in 2013. The caretakers had use of the historic cabin on the site for living quarters.
The State of Michigan turned the 122-acre property over to Iron County in July 1961. The cabin was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The cabin is noted for its vernacular wilderness camp architecture and decorative details, such as mitered tree roots for stairway railings and light fixtures, crafted by local wood carver Frank Rawnick. The cabin presently is in remarkable condition as its log structure has withstood the past 90 years.
The Cooks Run property continues to this day to be owned by the Iron County.
Visitors are welcome to the meeting. Dues were payable in July.
For more information on the society, go on Facebook to https://www.facebook.com/IronCountyMIGenealogicalSociety.