East Hancock
Encyclopedia
East Hancock is a primarily residential neighbourhood in Hancock, Michigan
Hancock, Michigan
Hancock is a city in Houghton County; the northernmost in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, or, depending on terminology, Copper Island. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 census...

, though it also includes the easternmost block of Quincy Street, the main street of Hancock's downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

.

East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District

The East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District is a nationally-recognized historic district which is a substantial subsection of the East Hancock neighborhood. The District is bounded by Front Street, Dunston Street, Vivian Street, Mason Avenue, and Cooper Avenue,and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1980.

There are 88 residences in the East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District, along with a synagogue, gas sation, and WPA project. The majority of the residences were built between 1890 and 1920.

History

The East Hancock neighborhood was formerly characterised by a number of deep ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...

s originally covered with wooden sidewalks that were filled in by the Dakota Heights Land Company; the neighbourhood was then "subdivided into residential lots". Development in the neighborhood began in the 1890s and surged in the early 1900s, when a rush of prosperity increased the numberof relatively wealthy people in Hancock. The neighborhood brought together Hancock citizens involved in the business and mining sectors of the economy. Notable early residents of the area were primarily mine employees and managers. As mining declined in importance, more Hancock businessmen moved into the neighborhood.

Description

Many of the residences in East Hancock were designed by prominent local architects. Styles represented in the neighborhood include Queen Anne, Stick, Shingle, Neo-Classical, Renaissance Revival, and Bungaloid
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...

.

A principal feature is a WPA-project stone staircase "[descending] from "Cooper Avenue to Front Street".

Historically, East Hancock was important as the station from which the trolley departed to the Electric Park resort.

The East Hancock Neighborhood Association was formed in 1981. It is noted for many large houses in the Queen Anne, Renaissance and shingle styleshttp://www.e-history.com/Site/Site_USA_MI_H.htm.

The construction of the Canal Crossings Condominium by Moyle Inc. has obstructed some of the view of the neighbourhood from the Portage Lake Lift Bridge
Portage Lake Lift Bridge
The Portage Lake Lift Bridge connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton, Michigan, USA, across Portage Lake, a portion of the waterway which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula with a canal linking the final several miles to Lake Superior to the northwest...

, one of the things for which the project has been criticised.http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6620

Sources

  • East Hancock Revisited: History of a Neighborhood, Circa 1880 - 1920 (Eleanor A. Alexander, Hancock, Michigan: 1984)
  • Charles Wallace: Maps
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