John W. Cook Hall

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = John W. Cook Hall

| image = Cookhall.JPG

| caption = John W. Cook Hall

| location = Illinois State University, US 51, Normal, Illinois

| coordinates = {{coord|40|30|33|N|88|59|32.5|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Illinois#USA

| built = 1896

| architect = George H. Miller

| added = February 20, 1986

| area = {{convert|1|acre}}

| refnum = 86000268{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

John W. Cook Hall, or Cook Hall, is a building that resembles a castle on the Quad of Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Cook Hall, named for the university's fourth president, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since the winter of 1986.

Cook Hall is one of "Altgeld's castles": it was designed toward the end of the administration of Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld. Altgeld was a German native who favored Gothic Revival architecture.{{cite web|title=Cook Hall |publisher=Illinois State University |url=http://www.masterplan.ilstu.edu/historic/histcookhall.shtml |accessdate=2008-09-08 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614120919/http://www.masterplan.ilstu.edu/historic/histcookhall.shtml |archivedate=2008-06-14 |url-status=dead }}

First proposed as a dormitory by Richard Edwards during his presidency at Illinois State University, the building was not approved until 1895. Opened in 1897, design elements for the building were changed, and its overall purpose shifted to that of a gymnasium. The building, called "Gymnasium" also held the University Library.{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=April |title=Illinois State University |date=2017 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Virginia Beach, VA |isbn=978-1-4671-2748-6 |pages=19–20 |edition=1st}} Renamed "John Cook Hall" in 1936, it was eventually converted for other uses as larger gyms were constructed on campus.{{cite news |last1=Staff writer |title='John Cook Hall' to Supplant 'Castle' after Commencement |url=https://videttearchive.ilstu.edu/ |access-date=19 May 2022 |issue=49 |publisher=The Vidette |date=April 17, 1936|volume=48 }} It currently houses the School of Music.