NRHP Reference # 84001372 Year built 1896 Nearest city Pelkie | Area 16 ha Added to NRHP 19 July 1984 | |
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Location Baraga Township, Baraga County, Michigan, USA | ||
The Hanka Homestead, now known as the Hanka Homestead Finnish Museum, is a group of 8 buildings on a 40-acre (160,000 m2) homestead. It is also known as the Herman and Anna Hanka Farm or just the Hanka Farm. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) west of U.S. Highway 41, off Tower Road, near Pelkie, Michigan in the United States. The homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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History and significance
The Hanka Farm 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 40 acres (160,000 m2) and includes eleven buildings as well a related landscape features. The buildings are constructed of hewn logs, built by members of the Hanka family. The buildings include a farmhouse, hay barn, and sauna, all from c. 1896, and well as a woodshed, outhouse, stable (c. 1914), root cellar (c. 1902), indrive (c. 1902), blacksmith shop, cattle barn (1910), and milkhouse. The farmhouse includes a later addition from before 1915.