The town of Hancock was established in 1880. Just a year later, the settlement contained a train depot, telegraph office, and several restaurants. Various types of wooden shacks and cabins were constructed to house the nearly 200 people that called Hancock home. 

The town was constructed 11,000 feet above sea level, making life in Hancock particularly harsh. Many of the buildings were built to withstand the cold and snowy winter months. The saloons in the town offered cold laborers from the mines a place to rest and shelter.

When the railway was shut down in 1910, so did Hancock. It eventually became just another failed frontier town. The mines soon closed, buildings crumbled, and the saloon was left abandoned. The broken, dilapidated remains of the saloon are all that remain of this once-thriving town.