Formed March 9, 1874 (76th county)
Cook County (5,599), Grand Marais (1,343)
A tan brick Classical Revival courthouse structure was built in 1912 on a square at 2nd Street, 5th Avenue, 3rd Street, and 4th Avenue. Minnesota State Highway 61 is two blocks south of the site. The building was renovated and enlarged in 1998. The facility features columns and sits on a hill. There are veterans memorials on the grounds. There was a basic courthouse earlier from 1889. Kelly and Lignell are the architects. Cook County was taken from Lake County on March 9, 1874 as the 76th county with Grand Marais as the only county seat. The county is named for Civil War hero Major Michael Cook. The county seat is French for “great marsh.”
Cook County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer, an auditor, an assessor and a clerk (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Fourteen District Court Judges serve Cook, Carlton, Lake, and St. Louis counties (judicial.) The county is situated in northeast Minnesota. The county is in the northeast corner of Minnesota. Canada is on its northern border and Lake Superior is its southern border. The county center is 16.9 miles Northwest of Grand Marais. The county is surrounded clockwise by Canada, Michigan and Wisconsin and Lake County.
The area of the county is 1450.6 square miles. It is 12 out of 87 in the state. It ranks 81 out of 87 in population in the state. It has a density of 3.9 persons per square mile making it 85 out of 87 in the state. Cook County has 24.0% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The highest point in Minnesota, Eagle Mountain, is in the county. The county is overall triangular. Grand Marais is on the southern coast of the county. Grand Marais is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 24.0% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced GRAND MA-RAEZ.
Grand Marais
