Discover "lost Hancock" in May 28 history presentation at Scott Building

HANCOCK -- Hancock, Michigan, is home to many beautiful historic buildings, particularly in its downtown. However, there used to be many more. Some of these buildings were destroyed in catastrophic fires, while others were vacated voluntarily and eventually demolished. All of them have stories to tell about Hancock’s past and present.

Join local author John Haeussler as he shares some of the stories of "lost Hancock" in a talk illustrated with pre-1940 photographs of missing buildings and historic streetscapes at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, in the Community Room at the historic Scott Building, 103 E. Quincy Street in Hancock.

Please use the back entrance from the parking lot on Reservation Street (between the Scott Building and the former church) to access the Community Room, which is located on the second floor. The event is free and open to the public.

This event is part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park's Fourth Thursday in History series of public presentations on important aspects of Copper Country and regional history, including techniques for historic preservation.

Presentations are scheduled in venues throughout the Keweenaw Peninsula, particularly at historic sites associated with specific topics. Additional support for this event is being provided by Mike and Sharon Lahti of Hancock.

For further information, including specific directions to this event, contact Keweenaw National Historical Park at (906) 337-3168 or check the web at www.nps.gov/kewe.

Hancock researcher, author to speak at Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogical Society meeting Jan. 15

HOUGHTON -- The Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogical Society will hold its first meeting of 2015 at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 [NOT THE NORMAL MEETING DAY], at the Portage Lake District Library, in Houghton.

The meeting will feature a presentation by John Haeussler, author of Images of America: Hancock (published by Arcadia Publishing in 2014, part of Arcadia's Images of America series). The presentation will be a discussion of images of early Hancock: virtually all pre-1940, many pre-1900.

At a Hancock Fire Dept. Pancake Breakfast in October 2013, Hancock researcher and former City Councilor John Haeussler (center) chats with City Councilor John Slivon, right, and Ann Pace (Slivon's wife) about Hancock history and the Hancock Sesquicentennial book, to which Haeussler, Sesquicentennial Committee chairman, contributed significantly. Haeussler will speak about his book, Images of America: Hancock, at the Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogical Society meeting Thursday, Jan. 15, at Portage Lake District Library. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

In addition to showing a few of his favorite images, Haeussler plans to focus on looking at the detail within the images, at times looking at as many as six-to-eight items within a single image. One "sidebar" topic will be a series of images in which the Norwegian Lutheran Free Church appears. Four ca. 1880 images from the Smithsonian will also be included. There will be time for Questions and Answers, and audience participation will be highly encouraged. Books will be available for purchase and can be signed.

John Haeussler is an academic researcher. He moved to Hancock in 2007 and recently completed a four-year term on the Hancock City Council. Haeussler continues to serve on multiple local governmental boards. He was Committee Chair of the City's Sesquicentennial in 2013, and co-editor and co-author of the City of Hancock's Book, Hidden Gems and Towering Tales: A Hancock Michigan Anthology.

The meeting is open to the public. For further information, call 369-4083 or emailHKCGSociety@gmail.com.