Downtown Hancock

Mary Hunt

The Community Arts Center downtown on Quincy Street has an appealing and varied shop in addition to its gallery of changing exhibits.

Hancock's downtown is on one-way Quincy Street that's also U.S. 41, the highway to the vacation destinations in Calumet and Copper Harbor. Hancock has a functional downtown with lot of useful shops: Quincy Footwear, Kathy's Country Flowers with a good selection of gifts and greeting cards, Northwoods Trading Post (a gun store/shoe repair shop), the Community Art Center with its shop and gallery, a very large and friendly St. Vincent DePaul, a True Value hardware store, and - what a rarity! - an independent, locally owned bank, Superior National Bank, headquartered right on Quincy Street. North Wind Books is a few blocks west at Finlandia University. It's entirely possible to do all one's Christmas shopping in downtown Hancock and come up with some distinctive things, thereby saving a lot of stress and supporting local merchants and artists.
A printed walking tour of historic Hancock and its architectural details is distributed at the Keweenaw Chamber of Commercee in Houghton, Keweenaw Tourism Council in Calumet and at the Community Art Center on Quincy Street. A different kind of historic tour, with then-and-now photos, is at www.cityofhancock.com . Scroll down to "History," then choose "downtown tour."

Points of interest are listed from east (nearer the lift bridge) to west.

♦ COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER. The attractive large gallery and studios of the Copper Country Community Arts Council are in this low orange building. Changing exhibits go beyond contemporary art and crafts to include architecture, antiques, and more. Stop by for a free copy of the council's busy arts calendar. The gift shop is worth checking out for unusual handcrafted items: Ojibwa baskets, blown and fused glass, wood, stylish knit hats in winter; and much more. 126 Quincy/U.S. 41. 482-2333. Tues-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-4. Wheelchair-accessible.

The St. Vincent De Paul store in Hancock: large, neatly organized, and full of bargains

♦ ST. VINCENT de PAUL RESALE STORE. If you're an inveterate yard-saler, this large, well-organized store, formerly a Woolworth's, is worth a stop if you're passing by. There are many terrific bargains. The books almost always yield something worth reading, and customers are allowed to root around the basement, where larger things are sorted but not yet priced. Copper Country has lots of savers, and some good stuff eventually ends up here. 204 Quincy/U.S. 41. 482-7705. Open Mon-Fri 10-5. Wheelchair-accessible.

♦ FINNISH-AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER. A beautiful exhibit gallery hosts changing exhibits of Finnish, Finnish-American, and regional artists and other subjects related to that culture. An extensive archive in the lower level serves anyone interested in Finnish-American roots. For occasional special events visit www.finlandia.edu and scroll down site index to heritage center. Recent speakers and visitors have been writer Barry Lopez and the president of Finland. 601 Quincy/U.S. 41, between downtown and the Finlandia University campus. Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and by appointment: (906) 487-7500. Wheelchair-accessible.

♦ NORTH WINDS BOOKS. This personal bookstore, now owned by Finlandia University, has select general reading and children's books in addition to its regional specialties: Finnish and Finnish-American books, history and literature of the Upper Great Lakes and Upper Peninsula, including maritime, Native American, copper mining, nature and the environment.
The Hancock North Winds is the successor to Patricia Van Pelt's Eagle Harbor bookstore of the same name. It's next to the Finnish-American Heritage Center in a former church rectory that sits back from the street on a small plaza. Manager Susan Ubbelohde keeps up on Finnish topics in her role as the college president's wife. Mail-order is available. Call or consult the website for occasional special events. Generous store-wide sales are usually held after Christmas and before June 30. 437 Quincy/ U.S. 41. Parking is on Quincy and in the side lot; turn right onto Ryan, which angles. (906) 487-7217. Open Mon-Sat 10-6. Wheelchair-accessible.

♦ MARY CHASE PERRY STRATTON CHILDHOOD HOME. Mary Chase Perry Stratton, whose famous Pewabic tiles are familiar architectural ornaments in many Detroit-area public buildings and grand homes of the early 20th century, spent her first ten years, from 1867 to 1877, in this simple frame house, one of Hancock's few early buildings to have survived a major fire. Her father, a doctor for the Quincy Mining Company, moved here in 1863. Perry Stratton named her pottery, famous for its iridescent copper glazes, either after a Copper Country mine or possibly after the Ojibwa word for clay the color of copper. She was an important part of Detroit's significant Arts and Crafts movement. Asian art connoisseur Charles Freer, who made a fortune as the finance man for a Detroit railroad car manufacturer, was the one who urged her to pursue her iridescent coppery glazes. For more Pewabic Pottery history, visit www.pewabic.com . 222 Hancock, the eastbound part of U.S. 41 through Hancock. It's one street below Quincy. The house is directly behind the Best Western Copper Crown motel.

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