The Hancock neighborhood is hard to find.

The cul-de-sac on West 12th Street overlooks Memorial Stadium and confounds drivers with its narrow lanes and rock garden median. Its narrow entrance can be mistaken for a parking lot or a private driveway, cutting down on visitors.

And the 10 Hancock property owners are working together to keep it that way.

“I love this street,” said Susan Davis, a Hancock homeowner. “There are some really beautiful homes here, and I think it’s important to protect that.”

While people in the Pinckney neighborhood fight against two proposed historic districts, neighbors in Hancock are funding a national historic district application from their own pockets.

“I think the property owners are just really eager to get this started,” said Carol von Tersch, another Hancock resident and president of the Lawrence Preservation Alliance. “We thought this would speed the process along.”

Two homes on the street already are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, meaning all construction or outdoor renovation to properties on the block is subject to review by the city’s Historic Resources Commission. If approved, a district designation would make the homes eligible for state and federal tax credits as well.

“I know some of the commercial property owners have restoration they want to do,” von Tersch said. “But they’re waiting for the tax credits.”

The district’s boundaries end at the edge of Kansas University’s main campus, which would put a portion of KU’s main campus in the district’s environs — and potentially subject KU projects to outside scrutiny. KU has had trouble building in historic areas in the past. Two proposed scholarship halls on Ohio Street faced intense review by the Historic Resources Commission. But KU vice provost Jim Long said the university supported preservation.

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“I believe (it’s) primarily a city concern,” Long said. “The university would be happy to help the city however we can.”

University architect Warren Corman said the proposal potentially could benefit the campus, by providing incentives to maintain homes.

“Anytime houses near the campus get run down … it detracts from the campus, obviously,” Corman said.

The Hancock neighbors will spend $2,500 to fund the application. Before the neighborhood can be declared a historic district, the application needs the approval of the State Historic Preservation Office and the federal Department of the Interior.