The Hardwick Historical Society (HHS) is a small collecting repository and museum dedicated to preserving the history of the the Town of Hardwick (1781 – ) and the Village of Hardwick (1891-1989) in northeastern Vermont. The HHS was founded in the mid-1970s by Margaret Spier, a retired teacher who collected photographs and unwanted papers from elderly people in the area. She then started holding monthly meetings which drew the older members of the community to come together and reminisce about the days of their youth.
In the 1983, the HHS became an organized 501(c)(3) non-profit. In the 1990s it leased from the Town the local 19th century railroad depot, and, beginning in 2001 with a $175,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Transportation combined with smaller grants totaling another $30,000, renovated it. The renovation restored much of the original character of The Depot. In 2004, when the renovations ended, The HHS started to move its collections into The Depot. At the same time, the Town moved its Civil War Museum to The Depot so it could use the museum space in the Municipal Building for offices. After Margaret Spier’s death in 2006, the HHS moved her collections to The Depot.