Hancock, Vermont is located in Addison County, and sits on the east side of the Green Mountains. The land here was granted November 7, 1780 and chartered July 31, 1781 by Governor Chittenden, to Samuel Wilcox and 129 associates. Hancock grew as pioneers sought new land and opportunity after the Revolutionary War with some taking up farming and others engaging in the lumber trade. The population in the rural town reached its peak of 472 residents in 1830, a number it has never seen again – the current population is 359. As the town saw its largest growth in the early decades of the 19th century, the town officials decided to erect a joint Town House and Union Church to serve multiple uses. This structure, built in the Greek Revival style by around 1850, has two stories, with the ground floor historically housing town offices, and the second floor formerly housing a meeting space and church hall. The classically designed building has a box cornice, frieze, and molded corner pilasters. The double entrance doors have pilaster and entablature surround and the three-stage steeple has a clapboarded base with corner pilasters. The structure has survived generations and natural disasters and is a testament to this small, but proud town in rural Vermont.
Buildings of New England 