Hancock

Formed January 15, 1848 (38^th county)

Hancock County (29,095), New Cumberland (1,023), Weirton (19,160)

The stone Neo-Classical courthouse was built in 1920.  The courthouse is on Court Street at Ridge Avenue.  West Virginia State Highway 2 is Ridge Avenue in the town.  King Lumber Company are the architects.  The courthouse features columns with veteran memorials on the grounds.  An Addition sits next to the courthouse since 1970.  There was also an 1884 courthouse in New Cumberland.  Hancock County was organized on January 15, 1848 from Brooke County as the 38^th county.  New Manchester was the county seat in 1848 and again in 1852 while New Cumberland served from 1850-1852 and then again since 1884.  The county is named for the Signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock.  The county seat was presumably named for the mountains. 

Hancock County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Three Circuit Court Judges, Two Family Court Judges and Three Magistrate Court Judges serve Hancock, Brooke, and Ohio counties.  The county is on the northern tip of the northern panhandle of the state.  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is east and Charleston, West Virginia is south of the county.  The county center is 2.5 miles East-Northeast of New Cumberland.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Ohio and Pennsylvania and Brooke County. 

The area of the county is 83 square miles.  It is 55 out of 55 in the state.  It ranks 19 out of 55 in population in the state.  It has a density of 350.5 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 55 in the state.  Hancock County has 63.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 30 clips the northeast corner of the county from Pennsylvania, east, to Ohio, north.  The county is shaped like a backwards capital letter P.  New Cumberland is located on the western border of the county.  Weirton is on the southwest border of the county and extends into Brooke County.  New Cumberland is the county seat and Weirton is the largest city.  New Cumberland is 3.5% of the county population while Weirton is 65.9% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced WEER-TON.  This county is in the Weirton-Steubenville Metropolitan Statistical Area.