Cooks Springs, Alabama
Cooks Springs, Alabama | |
---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Cooks Springs, Alabama Cooks Springs, Alabama | |
Coordinates: 33°35′24″N 86°23′40″W / 33.59000°N 86.39444°WCoordinates: 33°35′24″N 86°23′40″W / 33.59000°N 86.39444°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Alabama |
County | St. Clair |
Elevation | 541 ft (165 m) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 35052 |
Area code(s) | 205 |
GNIS feature ID | 164613[1] |
Cooks Springs (also known as Cook Springs or Polk) is an unincorporated community in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. Cooks Springs is located along Interstate 20 and U.S. Route 78, 6.3 miles (10.1 km) west of Pell City. Cooks Springs had a post office until November 19, 2011; it still has its own ZIP code, 35052.[2][3] Cooks Springs was named for William Proctor Cooke, who settled here in 1854.[4]
References
- ↑ "Cooks Springs". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
- ↑ United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ↑ "Postmaster Finder - Post Offices by ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ↑ Foscue, Virginia (1989). Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. p. 39. ISBN 0-8173-0410-X.
Cooks Springs Alabama John Jackson Lawleys wife Clarissa’s Father-Lafayette Cook inherited some land from his father William Proctor Cook (about 160 acres that he had entered in 1854). This land later became Cook Springs and was turned into a sort of spa, there was bowling, croquet, lawn tennis, hunting, fishing, boating, swimming and mountain climbing with dancing in the evenings. The dining room seated about 200. A physician was hired and guests used the various waters for hot sulfur baths. In 1936 Mr. Cook deeded the hotel, springs and 1700 acres of land to the trustees of the American School of Evangelism to be used for religious purposes. The Baptist used the property variously until 1954 when the construction of the new highway from Birmingham to Atlanta necessitated removal of the buildings and his once beautiful resort passed into history. An interesting sideline in the conversion of the name Cooke into Cook is that Cooke was one letter too many to fit the old time letter stamps, so Uncle Sam forced the dropping of the "e" Since 1958 the Baptist Association has leased the land and has developed Cook Springs into a camping area and apartments into a home for retired citizens. The American School of Evangelism deeded approximately 900 acres of the original LaFayette Cooke land to the Birmingham Baptist. Association.
"The old hotel has long since been torn down now and the Springs covered up with dirt. An old church and cemetery is all that is left in the area. Where there was once fresh air and invigorating air to breathe now there are exhaust fumes from an endless variety of vehicles. Sad, somehow very sad.