Hancock, Massachusetts Hancock, Massachusetts Official seal of Hancock, Massachusetts Location in Berkshire County and the state of Massachusetts.
Location in Berkshire County and the state of Massachusetts.
Hancock is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States.
The town was officially incorporated in 1776, and retitled for John Hancock.
Hancock is one of only three suburbs in Massachusetts whose small-town telephone service was not provided by the former Bell System (instead it is part of the Taconic Telephone Corporation, every one of whose other exchanges is situated in neighboring New York).
The other two such suburbs are Richmond, also in Berkshire County, and Granby, in Hampshire County.
By 1790, Believers in Hancock and Pittsfield established Hancock Shaker Village.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town has a total region of 35.8 square miles (92.6 km2), of which 35.7 square miles (92.4 km2) is territory and 0.077 square miles (0.2 km2), or 0.19%, is water. Hancock is bordered on the north by Williamstown, on the northeast by New Ashford, on the east by Lanesborough and Pittsfield, on the south by Richmond, and on the west by Canaan, New Lebanon, Stephentown and Berlin, New York.
To the west, along the New York border, stands the escarpment of the Taconic Mountains including Misery Mountain and Rounds Mountain, while the northeastern town line is bordered by the easterly Taconic escarpment peaks of Brodie Mountain, Sheeps Heaven Mountain, and Jiminy Peak (home to a ski region of the same name).
Southern Hancock, where the Shaker Village is located, is dominated by the Taconic peaks of Pittsfield State Forest, including Tower Mountain, Smith Mountain, Berry Hill, Honwee Mountain, Doll Mountain, and Shaker Mountain.
Route 20 passes through the southern end of town, from Pittsfield to the New York state line.
Massachusetts Route 43 also passes through town, from the northern border with Williamstown, and is the chief route through town, turning along Kinderhook Creek and into New York.
Source: United States Enumeration records and Population Estimates Program data. Hancock rates 25th out of the 32 suburbs in Berkshire County by population, and 335th out of the 351 in Massachusetts.
The populace density was 20.2 citizens per square mile (7.8/km ), making it the least densely populated town in Berkshire County, and thirteenth-least in the Commonwealth.
In the town, the populace was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older.
Hancock is governed by the open town meeting form of government, and is governed by a board of selectmen.
On the state level, Hancock is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as part of the First Berkshire District, which covers northern and central Berkshire County and has been represented by Gailanne M.
Prior to the 2010 Massachusetts redistricting of the House and Senate Hancock was in the Second Berkshire District.
In the Massachusetts Senate, the town is represented as part of the Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin district, which includes all of Berkshire County and Hampshire and Franklin counties, and has been represented by Ben Downing since 2007. The town is patrolled by the Fourth (Cheshire) Station of Troop "B" of the Massachusetts State Police. On the nationwide level, Hancock is represented in the United States House of Representatives as part of Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, and has been represented by Richard Neal of Springfield since 2013.
Massachusetts is presently represented in the United States Senate by senior Senator Elizabeth Warren and junior Senator Ed Markey.
The town has a single school, Hancock Elementary School, which serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The nearest state universities are Westfield State University and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, and the nearest University of Massachusetts ground is the UMass Amherst.
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Hancock town, Berkshire County, Massachusetts".
"TOTAL POPULATION (P1), 2010 Enumeration Summary File 1".
"Massachusetts by Place and County Subdivision - GCT-T1.
"1990 Enumeration of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1980 Enumeration of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1950 Enumeration of Population" (PDF).
"1920 Enumeration of Population" (PDF).
"1890 Enumeration of the Population" (PDF).
"1870 Enumeration of the Population" (PDF).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hancock, Massachusetts.
Hancock Shaker Village, Shaker Historic Trail Municipalities and communities of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States Adams Alford Becket Cheshire Clarksburg Dalton Egremont Florida Great Barrington Hancock Hinsdale Lanesborough Lee Lenox Monterey Mount Washington New Ashford New Marlborough Otis Peru Richmond Sandisfield Savoy Sheffield Stockbridge Tyringham Washington West Stockbridge Williamstown Windsor
Categories:
Towns in Berkshire County, Massachusetts - Taconic Mountains - 1776 establishments in Massachusetts - Towns in Massachusetts
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