Hancock

Formed January 1, 1812 (11^th county)

Hancock County (46,047), Bay Saint Louis (9,289)

The pleasant gray brick Greek Revival courthouse was built in 1911.  It is on a square surrounded by Main, Gex, Court, and Cue streets.  United States Highway 90 is eight blocks north of the site.  Keenan and Weiss are the architects.  The courthouse features columns and a veterans’ memorial.  The building was enlarged in 1920 and restored and enlarged in 2009.  A Justice Center was added in 2012, a Youth Courthouse, and a Government Annex in 2010.  The county was established on January 1, 1812 from Native American Territory 11^th county with Bay Saint Louis as the only county seat.  It is named for American statesman John Hancock.  The county seat is named for the bay which is named for French King Louis IX. 

Hancock County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Four Chancery Court Judges and Three District Court Judges serve Hancock, Harrison, and Stone counties and a court clerk serves Hancock County (judicial.) The county is on the southwest corner of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Jackson, Mississippi is northwest and New Orleans, Louisiana is southwest of the county.  The Gulf of Mexico forms is southern border.  The county center is 15.4 miles Northwest of Bay Saint Louis nearer Kiln.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pearl River, Stone, and Harrison counties and the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana. 

The area of the county is 477 square miles.  It is 54 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 16 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 96.5 persons per square mile making it 15 out of 82 in the state.  Hancock County has 56.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 goes east to west through the county from Harrison County to Louisiana.  Interstate Highway 59 clips the northwest corner from Pearl River County, north, to Louisiana, west.  United States Highway 11 is joined with Interstate Highway 59 from Pearl River County into Louisiana.  United States Highway 90 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Harrison County to Louisiana.  The county is shaped like a rocky chair.  Bay Saint Louis is in the southeast corner of the county.  Bay Saint Louis is the county seat and Diamondhead is the largest city.  The county seat is 20.2% of the county population while the largest city is 20.7% of the county population.  This county is in the Gulfport-Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area.