Hancock

The Quincy Mining Company platted Hancock in 1859, a decade after the company began mining Keweenaw copper. While many copper towns boomed and busted within a short period of time, Hancock remained stable, incorporating as a city in 1875. By 1897 Hancock’s four thousand citizens wanted a government building that would reflect the city’s prosperity and stature. The Quincy company sold this lot to the city in 1898 and in January 1899 the Town Hall and Fire Hall opened.

[Back]: The Marquette firm of Charlton, Gilbert and Demar designed Hancock’s Town Hall and Fire Hall. Completed in 1899, the building housed city offices, the fire department, and the marshall’s office and jail. Built of Jacobsville sandstone with stepped and curved gables, it exhibits Richardsonian Romanesque, Dutch, and Flemish influences. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.