Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hancock

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
A+History
History · Hancock

Hancock dates to 1846, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #25 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1880.

1846founded
5on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
15famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hancock’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hancock began

When was Hancock founded?

1846

Hancock dates its founding to 1846 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,783 in 18802020 census: 4,501180 years

How historic is Hancock?

A+

More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1860.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hancock’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hancock is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #25 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hancock’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194038.6% of homes (±6.5) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register5 listings, 32 historic buildings, 70.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 97%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hancock’s 70.0 sits above most of its state (92% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 32 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points). Two sources give 1846.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Hancock’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 8,981 in 1910; 4,501 people lived here in 2020.A historic districtThe Quincy Street Historic District takes in 28 historic buildings.On the map since 19154 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1975. Watch Hancock change.Old housesHalf of Hancock’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · People over time

Hancock, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 8,981

Peaked at 8,981 in 1910; 4,501 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hancock’s Wikipedia page.

On the National Register

5 listings protect 32 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
32
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Old Main, Suomi College
Old Main, Suomi CollegeLieblein House, built 1895Hancock Town Hall and Fire HallQuincy Street Historic DistrictHancock Central High School, built 1923
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Richardsonian Romanesque1
Queen Anne1
Eclectically Vernacular1
Late Victorian1
Italianate1
Romanesque1
Old Main, Suomi CollegeRichardsonian Romanesque
Lieblein HouseQueen Anne · Built 1895
Hancock Town Hall and Fire HallEclectically Vernacular
Quincy Street Historic DistrictLate Victorian
Hancock Central High SchoolBuilt 1923

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

On the map

Hancock on the map, 1915 to 1975

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hancock. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hancock on the 1915 USGS mapHancock on the 1946 USGS mapHancock on the 1954 USGS mapHancock on the 1975 USGS map1915Houghton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hancock.

The story

How Hancock came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hancock.

Read it all →

Hancock is located within Ojibwa (Chippewa) homelands and ceded-territory established by the Treaty of 1842. The founding of the settlement of Hancock began during the summers of 1847 and 1848, when a small group of prospectors laboring on a rugged hillside (later named Quincy Hill) discovered a sequence of prehistoric Ojibwe copper mining pits, stretching out for 100 feet along the local amygdaloid lode. Upon inspecting one, they realized that the Native Americans were able to take copper in small quantities through these pits. The discovery formed the basis upon which the Quincy Mining Company was created in October 1848, under a special charter granted by the legislature.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hancock, 1846 to 1992

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846
    FoundingHancock is established
  3. 1860Post officeThe Hancock post office opens
  4. 1895BuiltLieblein House is built
  5. 1898In the archivePortage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, Mich
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveHancockMich-panorama-1906
  8. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 8,981
  9. 1914Born hereVerna Hillie is born here
  10. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1923BuiltHancock Central High School is built
  12. 1939Born hereRodney Paavola is born here
  13. 1983Born hereDwight Helminen is born here
  14. 1992Born hereTanner Kero is born here
By decade

Hancock, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s6 items
Portage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, Mich1898Portage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, MichPouring Copper, Quincy Smelter, Hancock, Mich1898Pouring Copper, Quincy Smelter, Hancock, MichHancockMich-panorama-19061900HancockMich-panorama-1906Finnish school1900Finnish schoolA Modern smelter1900A Modern smelterQuincy Hill and Hancock, Mich1900Quincy Hill and Hancock, Mich
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Every building

Hancock, building by building, 1907–1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Hancock fire insurance map, 1907, sheet 11907Sheet 1 of 24
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Portage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, Mich
Retake this viewPortage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, Mich, 1898

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hancock’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

15 famous people were born in Hancock

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Verna HillieAmerican actress · b. 1914
Rodney PaavolaAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1939
Dwight HelminenAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1983
T
Tanner KeroIce hockey player · b. 1992
Anders BrännströmSwedish major-general and commander of the army · b. 1957
H
Herb BoxerAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1947
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Hancock’s post office has been open since 1860.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Birch Grove Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Hancock StationlocaleUnited States Coast Guard Stationmilitary
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hancock
LakesideLutheranSaint Joseph

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Hancock’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPortage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, Mich: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hancock TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townQuincy Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFranklin Township3 historic placesA+Portage TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Hancock’s history

What year was Hancock founded?

In 1846, according to Wikidata. Hancock’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1880 counted 1,783 people here.

How does Hancock rank for history?

Hancock is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #25 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Hancock?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Old Main, Suomi College (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Quincy Street Historic District, with 28 contributing buildings. 32 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Hancock?

39% of Hancock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1953.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.