The Hanka Homestead now known as the Hanka Homestead Finnish Museum is a group of eight buildings on a homestead. It is located west of
U.S. Highway 41, off Tower Road, near
Pelkie, Michigan
Pelkie is an unincorporated community in Baraga County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is on the Sturgeon River in the northeast part of Baraga Township.
Pelkie was settled by French Canadians in about 1885, and was first known as " ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The homestead was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1984.
History and significance
The Hanka Homestead was occupied by members of the Hanka family, Finnish immigrants, from 1896 until 1966.
The farm was originally homesteaded at a time of mass immigration from Finland to the United States, as well as a migration from the mining locations in the
Upper Peninsula to more rural locations.
The homestead is relatively intact and unaltered from its appearance in the 1920s.
It is significant because it represents an agricultural way of life in the late 19th century, and the transfer of a northern European Finnish folk-architectural tradition to the American frontier.
The farm has been restored to its appearance in the 1920s and is open to visitors.
The farm is staffed from Memorial Day through Labor Day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4pm; at other times self-guided tours are available.
Description
The Hanka farm covers and included 11 buildings in the 1920s as well a related landscape features.
The buildings are constructed of hewn logs, built by members of the Hanka family.
The buildings included a farmhouse, hay barn, and sauna, all from c. 1896, and well as a woodshed, outhouse, horse barn (c. 1914), root cellar (c. 1902), indrive—no longer remains (c. 1902), blacksmith shop, cattle barn (1910), and milkhouse.
The farmhouse includes a later addition from before 1915.
References
External links
Hanka Homestead Finnish Museum- official site
Visitor's information from the Travel Michigan
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Museums in Baraga County, Michigan
Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Open-air museums in Michigan
Michigan State Historic Sites
Finnish-American history
Finnish-American culture in Michigan
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Baraga County, Michigan