In the later part of the 1800’s, Aaron Cook and Benjamin Lyman of Manchester opened the Lyman Blacksmith Shop on the corner of Vernon Street and Middle Turnpike East on the Manchester Green. Right after 1900, the partnership was dissolved and Aaron Cook continued to run the business by himself.

The ramshackle blacksmith workshops eventually became known as Cook’s Garage, and later Cook's Service Station, a gasoline and service station accommodating the newly-popular invention of the automobile.

The Service Station remained Cook’s for many years before he sold the business and it became Sunset Service Station, and later Groot's Service Station, before the building was finally torn down in 2003. A unique distinction of Cook’s was that they were one of the few stations in the area that sold two different brands of gasoline at the same time - Sunoco and Mobil.

This illustration shows Cook's Service Station as it was in 1961, when it was considered one of the premiere service stations in Manchester.