Riverside man went from brick maker to county supervisor
A few weeks ago, reader Conrad Newberry wrote asking about a name he’d run across in Riverside’s early building industry — Claude Hancock. He asked me about him, but I knew nothing, so I decided to do some research and found him to be one of early Riverside’s movers and shakers.
Claude P. Hancock was born in Ninevah, Indiana, on June 15, 1867. He grew up there and later in Missouri. At age 12, he began helping his father, who was a masonry contractor. Later, he apprenticed himself to another mason.
He moved to Riverside in 1885 and worked in the industry until 1890 when he began his own contracting business. However, he wasn’t done with the masonry business, because in 1893 he began making his own bricks at a small yard near 2nd and Chestnut streets in downtown. It was not uncommon in those days for contractors to make their own bricks.
In 1900, his small brickyard was incorporated as the Riverside Machine Brick Company.
Over the next 20 years, it moved a few times due to the location of the raw materials. In 1908, it was located at north Market Street, then in 1921 it moved to the intersection of Panorama Road and Olivewood Avenue, and then finally, in 1926, it moved to the Highgrove area. Once his son Donald joined the business, it was renamed to C. P. Hancock and Son. It was still in business in 1958 under the ownership of his son Donald.
From the 1890s through the late 1920s, Claude Hancock built several homes, part of Sherman Indian High School and various commercial buildings.
Some of these included the city’s electric light plant building, the Reynolds building (where the Reynolds Hotel was), the Mission Inn annex building on 6th Street and the old YMCA building at University Avenue and Lemon Street.
Later in his career, Hancock became involved in many civic affairs. He was very active in the Elks lodge downtown along with other civic groups like the old Knights of Pythias and Shriners. An avid golfer, he was one of the early members of the Victoria Club. For a while, he was on the board of public utilities.
In 1922, he was convinced to run for the 2nd District seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, which he won. He only served one term, though, not seeking to continue in politics. If the lack of his name in the newspapers of the time is any indication, his term on the board was uneventful. In fact, most of the time when he is mentioned, it’s in reference to his work with the Elks or other civic groups.
C. P. Hancock died
March 1, 1931, at age 64, leaving his second wife plus a daughter and son who continued the business.