by Geoff Fox
One of Hancock’s prime historical sites has been closed for a few years, but there is renewed interest in reopening the Bowles House as the Hancock C&O Canal National Historical Park visitor center.
During his report for the Canal Town Partnership, Sinclair Hamilton told Hancock town officials the organization is working to reopen the Bowles House reopened as the visitor center.
Hamilton said he was working on a meeting with the National Park Service about reopening the visitor center. 
The house needs some work and Hamilton has been talking to Park Service officials to inspect the house so there’s an idea of what needs to be done before it can be reopened.
For a number of years, there had been a ramp on the end of the porch so handicapped visitors could access the house, but it rotted and has since been removed.
“Stuff like that,” Hamilton said.
When the house was open as a visitor center, park service personnel opened the house while members of the Hancock Historical Society and other community members decorated the house, making it look like a museum.
“It was really beautiful, had some really great photographs in it, and furniture and decorations,” Hamilton said.
But upon closing, those things were removed due to the possibility of being damaged by mold.
With his presentation, Hamilton wanted to get a sense from town officials if they’d support getting the Bowles House reopened.
“I think buildings, if they’re not used, they tend to fall to pieces,” he said. “If we make an effort to reopen the visitor center, even if it’s open on one day a week on a Saturday during the warm weather, that will help keep that building alive.”
Hamilton added the Bowles House is an important part of Hancock’s history and very attractive feature to the town by the aqueduct.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. asked Hamilton if the partnership would be having volunteers at the Bowles House if it were reopened. He said he didn’t want Hamilton coming back to town officials complaining they aren’t down opening and closing the house.
“I know all the organizations, it’s really hard to get volunteers,” Lanehart said.
“Tell me about it,” Hamilton said.
Lanehart used the town museum in the basement of Town Hall as an example of how hard it is with getting volunteers to be at the museum for a few hours once a week.
“So that’s something we have to work on,” Hamilton said.
He also added he doesn’t know who would oversee the Bowles House. Councilman David Kerns said it would only be the National Park Service because they wouldn’t let anyone else be in charge.
Kerns said Hamilton would find officials are in favor of having the Bowles House open if the Park Service would give them the opportunity to get people together to help do what needs to be done in order for the Bowles House to be open.
“But they won’t ever give you that answer, they just keep putting you off and putting you off until you go away,” he said.
Lanehart said if the building had been in Williamsport, it would have been rebuilt three times in the last five years with paid staffing.
Hancock was once the home of the C&O Canal headquarters, but Williamsport became that location years ago.
Kerns and Lanehart said town officials would be on board with the Bowles House being reopened.
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Hamilton said. “That’s important.”
