A building at the SE corner of 3rd & Market was built about 1792 by Joseph Cooke, goldsmith and jeweler. Splendid shops were on the ground floor (Cooke's was on the corner) and elegant apartments above. It was nicknamed "Cooke's Folly." Regarded as being too fine for its age, it gradually fell into decay and was demolished about 1838.
A new building was built there c.1860 in the Italianate style. Called the Moses Johnson building, it remains to this day, renovated in the late 1990's. At that time, they removed the mansard roof and the entire 5th floor. In 2019, the property, which consists of six residential apartments and two ground floor commercial units, sold for 3.7 million dollars.
Cooke's Folly 1972
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