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| Hancock, Houghton, Michigan, 1869 |
On Sunday, April 11, 1869, three days before the above photograph was taken, Hancock was almost totally destroyed by fire. This image shows the terrible result. - City of Hancock
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| Hancock after the fire of 1869 |
The Quincy Mining Company encouraged families to attend church, which ensured that the mining boom of the Copper Country was nowhere near as lawless as the Gold Rush of 1849 in California. Here two churches stand within a block of each other after the fire of 1869. Obviously, the parishioners (there was no fire department until 1871) put a priority on saving them! - City of Hancock
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Hancock in the aftermath of the great fire of 1869
Want to know more about the fire of 1869? John S Haeussler's 2014 book, "Images of America: Hancock" provides the most complete collection of photographs showing the before and after, as well as detailed captions. |
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| Quincy Street looking west. Hancock, Houghton, Michgan 1876 |
By 1876, when the photographer took this picture, Hancock was once again in the business of growth. New trees planted along the board sidewalks and new brick-and-frame structures have replaced the vacant lots caused by the 1869 fire. - City of Hancock
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| A view of Hancock on the north shore of Portage Lake from the Houghton courthouse on the south shore. You can see the Quincy Tramroad coming down the hillside from the Quincy location. 1886-1888 [1] |
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| A view of Hancock on the north side of Portage Lake. You can see the Tramroad extending up the hillside to the Quincy Mine location. [1] |
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| 1859, Looking eastward at downtown Houghton. Businesses were interspersed with houses. Merchants were setting up stores as mines struggled to make a go of it to the north, south and east. [1] |
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| 1890 - Hancock's original fire hall, the east end of Quincy Street and Reservation. After 1890 this building was transformed into the Superior Savings Bank. During the 1880s the Hancock Post Office was located here and Holland immigrant, Morton L. Cardell served as the postmaster. [1] |
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Sources
[1] Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections at the Van Pelt and Opie Library,
