Place:Hancock, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States

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NameHancock
Alt namesHancock Villagesource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25000205
Jerichosource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25000205
TypeTown
Coordinates42.533°N 73.317°W
Located inBerkshire, Massachusetts, United States
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Hancock is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 717 at the 2010 census.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Hancock was first settled in 1762 as the Plantation of Jericho. The town was officially incorporated in 1776, and renamed for John Hancock.

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Hancock Shaker Village

In 1790, the Shakers established Hancock Shaker Village. The Shakers were a religious order which believed in pacifism, celibacy and communal living. Worship could take the form of singing and ecstatic dance, which is why they were called the "Shaking Quakers," or "Shakers." The utopian sect is renowned today for its plain architecture and furniture.

After reaching peak membership in the 1840s, with 19 "societies" scattered from Maine to Kentucky, and west to Indiana, the Shaker movement gradually dwindled. Today, only one village remains in the control of the last Shakers, located at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine. Hancock Shaker Village, now operated as a museum, is famous for its "Round Stone Barn", built in 1826.

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