Hanka Homestead - A Keweenaw Heritage Site

This year, we spend our Fourth of July holiday visiting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  There are so many things to see and do – we have to keep coming back!  

While driving on US-41, we spot a brown historical sign for Hanka Homestead Heritage Site.   So, we turn off the paved road and drive several miles down a dirt road which leads to a two-track road.  At the dead-end there is an open meadow where the historic Homestead is located.

This 40-acre homestead consists of eight buildings (house, barns and outbuildings) and appears much like it did in the 1920’s.  The Hanka’s were Finnish immigrants who lived here from 1896-1966.  In 1984, the homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places.   

The farmhouse and buildings were open and a volunteer was available to answer questions and provide tours through the buildings.  Inside the house are antiques like a wood-burning stove, crank wall-mounted phone, old phonograph equipment, etc.  Since I was born and raised on a farm, I have a particular fondness for photographing old barns and antique farm equipment ... and this place was a goldmine for that.  

I think of my Dad whenever I see antique farm equipment.  When he was a boy, this is the type of equipment they used on their farm.   He would love seeing a place like this … I could almost feel him walking beside me telling stories about his boyhood days on the farm.   

Antique Farm Equipment

House & Barn

We spend about an hour here learning about rural life in the 19th century.  

Outbuildings

Farmhouse

Upstairs Bedroom

Kitchen

For more information on Hanka Homestead, click on the following link:
Hanka Homestead - Baraga County, Michigan