Cook is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, USA. The population was 574 at the 2010 census.U.S. Highway 53 and Minnesota Highway 1 are two of the main arterial routes in the community.The city was known initially as Little Fork, because of the river of the same name that runs through the city, later being known as Ashawa, which stands for "by the river or across the river", but its name was changed to its current name on 1 August 1908, at the request of the US Postal Service "because confusion with a village in southern Minnesota named Oshawa. The town was named in honor of Wirth Cook, an owner of the Rail Road that was constructed through Cook in 1903 and 1904.