Cooks Run was first settled around the time of the American Revolution or shortly after and was known for many years as McGinley's Bottom.[3] At that time, Cooks Run was Pine Creek township, Northumberland county.[3]
On November 3, 1888, a disaster occurred at the Kettle Creek Mine at Cooks Run, killing 17 people. The explosion was caused by a drill post falling on a supply of dynamite and caps that had just been brought into the mine. The explosion was propagated by coal dust throughout most of the mine and up the airshaft.[4][5]
There is also a stream in Clinton County, Pennsylvania known as Cooks Run near Renovo.[6] The stream used to be a popular place to fish, but has been polluted for decades.[7][8] In 2017, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection announced a $7 million project that could potentially fix this problem.[8]
The Cooks Run Restoration project has been a long-term effort to turn a surface mine back into a forest setting for humans and wildlife.[9]
