Formed January 1, 1829 (83rd county)
Hancock County (9,097), Hawesville (1,023), Lewisport (1,773)
A red brick Greek Revival and Italianate building constructed in 1867 to serve Hancock County. The courthouse is in a square at Main and Court streets. Kentucky State Highway 69 turns in front of the location. Boyd, Mursina, and Boyd are the architects. An Administrative Building was added in 1977 and a Justice Center was built in 2010 across the street. The building features a tower and veteran memorials are on the grounds. Hancock County was created on January 1, 1829 from parts of Ohio, Breckinridge, and Daviess counties as the 83rd county. Hawesville has always been the county seat. Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock is the source for the county’s name. Landowner Richard Hawes inspired the name of the county seat.
Hancock County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive). It has 4 Magistrates (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges, Two District Court Judges, and One Family Court Judge serve Hancock, Butler, Edmonson, and Ohio counties and a court clerk serves Hancock County (judicial.) Hancock County is on the northern border with Indiana. The Ohio River forms its north border. Owensboro, Kentucky is directly to its west. The county center is 4 miles Southwest of Hawesville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Indiana and Breckinridge, Ohio, and Daviess counties.
The area of the county is 189 square miles. It is 108 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 102 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 48.1 persons per square mile making it 72 out of 120 in the state. Hancock County has 30.7% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 60 crosses east to west in the county from Breckenridge County to Daviess County. The county looks like a dart. Hawesville is on the northeast border. Lewisport is on the northwest border. Hawesville is the county seat and Lewisport is the largest city. Hawesville is 11.3% of the county population while Lewisport is 19.5% of the county population. This county is in the Owensboro Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Hawesville
Lewisport
