The Cooke Mansion, more commonly known as the Cooke Castle, was the Lake Erie home of the Jay Cooke family. Four generations of the Cooke family shared many glorious days within the stone walls of this grand 19th century Gibraltar Island home.

Life events upon Gibraltar had been recorded by the family within the Cooke Journals. The journals...hand written entries dating back to 1865, had been hidden away...dusty, and forgotten within the castle walls for many years in the early part of the 20th century. The discovery of the journals brought back life and warmth to the cold stone castle. We discover that precious days were spent laughing, eating, sleeping, and recuperating from the hectic world away from the castle.

The journal entries contain accounts of the family sitting in the main room reading, of the warmth of the great open fire, and of the cool breezes that would swirl from the lake water onto the porch and into the hall on hot summer days.

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