Misfortune came to Hancock following the financial crash in 1929 as mines began to close for lack of a profitable market. Copper at the time sold for only five cents a pound. The Quincy Mine closed in 1931, and neighbouring mines closed in the following year. By 1934, one third of the families in Houghton County were seeking aid through the relief program set up. The Quincy Mine resumed its operations in 1937, but discontinued them in 1946, one week after Japan surrendered in 1945, ending World War II.