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HANCOCK
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Quincy Mine. The U.P.'s best all-around mine tour combines geology, a gee-whiz tram ride, social history, monumental engineering technology, and an optional underground experience at one of Copper Country's two richest mines. ...
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McLain State Park. Two miles of beautiful Lake Superior beach, a lighthouse pier, and 443 diverse acres provide wonderful beach and woodland walks, good birding, and stunning sunset views for campers and day visitors alike. ...
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Portage Waterway. The 21-mile stretch of water results from an ancient fracture of Keweenaw's spine of hard rock ...
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Downtown Hancock. Unlike many downtowns, Hancock's remains a one-stop business center with many useful shops, a department store, resale stores, arty specialty stores and galleries, a toy store, gun shop, home-owned bank, and bookstore with specialties in regional, the environment, and Scandinavia. ...
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Finlandia University/Finnish-American Heritage Center. Finlandia University (the U.P.'s only private college) and the associated Finnish-American Heritage Center form the U.S. epicenter of Finnish culture. They offer exhibits and lectures. ...
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Finlandia University Portage Campus
The former St. Joseph's Hospital, now renovated, has become a business incubator and studio space for Finlandia's design department, a cornerstone of its plans for repositioning itself for future decades as the Jutila Center for Global Business and Design. It has become a hub for creative energy, in addition to housing university offices and components of Michigan Tech's MTEC SmartZone.
A walk down the corridor from the north side entrance passes studios for yoga, piano lessons, meditation, wellness counseling. High-tech computer software startups are on higher floors. Things being made here are on display for sale in the atrium: for instance, vases and coffee cups by high-caliber student potters, jackets by Distant Drum, Joyce Koskenmaki's memorable big paintings of birches.
Big studio spaces are in the high-ceilinged rooms downstairs: Finlandia's ceramics and glass studio, the fiber and fashion studio, the woodworking and modeling shop and graphic design studio. Artists' and Finlandia studios welcome visitors; see directory.
Outsiders come in for the cool, friendly DAILY GRIND CAFÉ (906-487-7455; Mon-Fri 8-5), a coffeehouse with free wireless internet. The menu consists of espresso and related coffee drinks, smoothies, tea; soups, muffins, and scones made on the premises; salads, flavorful and healthy panini sandwiches, and wraps ($6-$7). Three tables look down the Keweenaw Waterway, especially beautiful early in the morning. Some old-timers come for lunch largely for the fun of seeing how their old hospital has changed. Many customers are Tech students from across the waterway. Takeout welcome. Catering available. Regular events have included live music or poetry at noon on Friday, and at the moment, alternative films and discussion at 6 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month. (Call to confirm.)
From West Quincy/M-20 west of the fork at Gino's, turn south onto 200 Michigan at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. No smoking. Open year-round weekdays 8-5. Wheelchair-accessible. More parking on Water St. by the medical office building.
Deja vu & Daily Brew Antiques and Collectibles
One of Hancock's more elaborate and fanciful Victorian homes sits on the city's biggest lot. (The previous owner added many playful touches that aren't authentic to the period.) New owners Muriel Ruonavar and Keith Halls plan to serve coffee (not espresso drinks) and pastries. Customers can sit inside, on the porch, in the turret, and outside. There's wi-fi internet available.
Their stock of antiques and collectibles, strong on Depression glass and cut glass, also includes furniture. It takes up much of the house. Visitors can walk the grounds and see the outhouse and sauna. (—Sept. 2007)
1109 Quincy/M-203, ¼ mile past Gino's, west of downtown Hancock. (906) 483-2143. Expected to be open Mon-Sat 8-5, Sun 11-4. Handicap access: call.
Keweenaw Co-op Natural Foods & Groceries. A great place to stop for picnic and camping provisions, with a tasty deli section, gourmet and international fare, unusual sauces and bulk foods, and an impressive selection of wines ...
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Finlandia University/Finnish-American Heritage Center
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 | | Old Main in Hancock, the first permanent building of the country’s only Finnish college, Finlandia University. It was founded in 1896 as Suomi College when copper mining in the region was at its height and thousands of Finns were immigrating to work as miners. | In Finland, churches had emphasized literacy, which eventually proved a great advantage to Finnish immigrants. In 1896 the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, now merged with many other Lutheran churches, opened an academy in Hancock which became Suomi College. Today it's known as Finlandia University. It's the only Finnish college in the U.S. and the only private college in the Upper Peninsula.
The name was changed when the college sought to market itself more broadly. Many non-Finns thought "Suomi," the Finnish name for "homeland," had Native American or even Asian origins. And assimilation has progressed so far that even a fair number of Finnish descendants don't know what "suomi" means.
The school became a four-year university in 1996. Enrollment has increased in recent years to about 550. Professional Studies majors are the largest student group on campus (elementary education, nursing, physical therapist assistant, criminal justice and human services). Additional majors include business, liberal studies and art & design. Finlandia draws students of many ethnic backgrounds. Students can also take Finnish language classes. The fine arts curriculum in fiber arts, ceramics, and product design, was developed on the model of Finland's leading design school, with the ongoing assistance of its faculty in Finland. Finlandia offers NCAA Division III athletics.
Changing art exhibits in the FINNISH-AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER are almost always stimulating, accessible, and easy for people in Copper Country to visit. Hours are Mon-Sat 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It's on the right (north) sidee of Quincy Street in downtown Hancock, in the white building with light blue trim (Finnish national colors.) Just search online for "Finnish-American Heritage Center" for exhibits, showings of current Finnish cinema, and musical and cultural events and lectures about the environment and other relevant subjects.
NORTH WIND BOOKS, with a separate entrance, is both the college bookstore and an outstanding independent bookstore with specialties in north country and Scandinavian books for adults and children. See under "downtown Hancock."
Finlandia's mission is "a learning community dedicated to academic excellence, spiritual growth and service.?. The birch leaf logo symbolizes Finlandia's connections with its Finnish roots and the natural environment. The university?s Web site at www.finlandia.edu conveys this theme. There's a strong connection between art and the environment at Finlandia and in the Upper Peninsula generally. (As an
example, read about Jean Sibelius and the village of Tapiola in Houghton County.) Most art exhibits at Finlandia, it seems, have some enviro mental connection—that's what the Finnish soul is all about, a connection between trees and nature and a person's innermost being.
Thanks to Finlandia, living in or near Hancock affords the general public an unusual opportunity to become familiar with the culture of one of today's most successful small nations, in terms of statistics of health, education, and social welfare. Noticing Finland's success in an isolated place, editors at the Washington Post were inspired to send a reporter to Finland in spring of 2005 to research and write a series of features on Finnish life.
Also at Finlandia is a well equipped recreation center which visitors can use for a nominal fee. It includes an indoor pool, basketball gym, and fitness center with weights and exercise machines. Campus tours start at Finlandia House at 601 Quincy just west of downtown. For details call (800) 682-7604 or visit www.finlandia.edu.
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