Koocksville

Germans from Fredericksburg, among them Peter Birk and Henry Hick, settled along Koocks Branch around 1851, and a group of Irish settlers arrived by 1855. The postwar boom in cattle hides and then the trail drives made Koock's store a headquarters for cattle buyers from the West and a bank for drovers, and sheep later added to its trade. Koock's widow and sons sold the business in 1899 and moved to Mason. Stones from his old mill later went into Mason's volunteer fire station, and since the 1950s the area has been a suburb of Mason.

What the plaque says

Koocksville Pioneers began to settle this locality in the 1850s. The oldest marked grave in Crosby Cemetery is dated 1856. The community became known as Koocksville after William Koock (1838-1890), a native of Germany, built a one-room log store here in 1867. Koock and his wife Minna (Jordan) (1843-1912) lived in the store before Koock moved his business to a picket structure and then to a two-story rock building erected in the early 1870s. Koock's store was the headquarters for cattle and sheep ranchers in this area. Here they could purchase supplies, obtain credit, and deposit their gold for safekeeping. The store also became the center of community life. Dances were frequently held on the second floor. Near the store, Koock provided a public well and a playground for children. Koocksville had one of Mason County's earliest schools. Although the town was platted in 1883, it never had a post office. Koock built a grist mill and cotton gin, but neither proved profitable. Koock had just begun a rock house for his family when he was killed in a riding accident. The closing of the store caused Koocksville to decline. In the 1970s, the rock store and several homes remain to mark the settlement. (1978)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Mason — 1.3 mi
  A reconstructed officers' quarters on Post Oak Hill above Mason, standing where the army's stone fort was taken apart by the town that grew up below it.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 14 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area — 31 mi
  A dome of pink granite north of Fredericksburg that rises some 385 feet above Sandy Creek, creaks as it cools at night, and has drawn people for thousands of years.

More markers nearby

• Crosby Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• Old Fort Mason — 0.6 mi
• Two Sheriffs of Mason County — 0.6 mi
• Whorlie Well — 0.8 mi