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{{short description|County in Mississippi, United States}}{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}

factoids
county	Hancock County | state = Mississippi | seal = | founded = 1812 | seat wl = Bay St. Louis | largest city wl = Bay St. Louis | area_total_sq_mi = 553 | area_land_sq_mi = 474 | area_water_sq_mi = 79 | area percentage = 14 | population_as_of = 2020 | population_total = 46053 | pop_est_as_of = | population_est = | population_density_sq_mi = auto | web =weblink | ex image = HancockCountyCourthouse14Sept07.jpg | ex image cap = Hancock County courthouse in Bay St. Louis | district = 4th | time zone = Central | named for = John Hancock

Hancock County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of Mississippi and is named for Founding Father John Hancock.BOOK,weblink The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, Govt. Print. Off., Gannett, Henry, 1905, 148, As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,053.WEB, Census - Geography Profile: Hancock County, Mississippi,weblink United States Census Bureau, January 8, 2023, Its county seat is Bay St. Louis.WEB,weblink June 7, 2011, Find a County, National Association of Counties, Hancock County is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is situated along the Gulf of Mexico and the state line with Louisiana. The area is home to the John C. Stennis Space Center, NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.The county was severely damaged from Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, which caused a huge storm surge and catastrophic damage.

History

This area of Mississippi was inhabited by indigenous peoples at the time of European colonization; the French were the first settlers and traders in the area. They imported African slaves as laborers, and in time a Creole class of free people of color developed.After the United States conducted Indian Removal in the 1830s, more Protestant Americans migrated into this area, but it retained French and African Catholic influences. Located on the Gulf Coast, the county was regularly hit by hurricanes but its residents learned to handle these incidents.In 2005, the county was the scene of the final landfall of the eye of Hurricane Katrina, and its communities and infrastructure suffered some of the most intense damage inflicted by that storm. Over the entire {{convert|7|mi|km|adj=on}} beach front, not one building or home was left intact. Nearly the entire first block off the beach was destroyed for the entire {{convert|7|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch. Homes as far inland as {{convert|10|mi|km}} were flooded by the historic storm surge, which occurred during a full moon high tide. All rivers and waterways were inundated by the surge. Highway 603 south from Interstate 10 was completely submerged, and the Highway 90 - Bay St. Louis Bridge was left looking like a stack of dominoes.Houses were floated off their foundations. In Waveland and Bay St. Louis, some homes were stranded atop the railroad tracks and others in the middle of streets. Towns like Pearlington, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, and Kiln suffered catastrophic damage.

Recovery from Hurricane Katrina

{{Expand section|date=August 2007}}A loosely knit group of hippies called the "Rainbow Family" arrived in Hancock County soon after Hurricane Katrina. From early September 2005 to early December 2005, they ran the "New Waveland Cafe and Clinic" WEB,weblink Pferdeerziehung im Fohlenalter, July 1, 2015, WEB, Hippie Kitchens Serve Final Meal to Hurricane Victims, NPR,weblink August 1, 2020, live,weblink located in the parking lot of Fred's Dept Store on Highway 90.The café provided free hot meals three times a day. The clinic was staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses from around the United States who saw more than 5000 patients during the duration. They provided treatment free of charge and dispensed free medications. Donations of medications and supplies came from a multitude of sources, with International Aid WEB,weblink International Aid, internationalaid.org, arranging the most donations. This was the first experience of the Rainbow Family in running a disaster relief center. The Bastrop Christian Outreach Center also volunteered with the Rainbow Family.Local churches were central points of recovery in Bay St. Louis, Waveland, and Diamondhead. Some churches provided shelter, meals, clothing, and various clean-up supplies. The churches also provided distribution points where supplies could be donated and easily passed on to those who needed help. Other disaster relief agencies that were active in Hancock County include Samaritan's Purse, Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, Red Cross, Rotary International and Salvation Army.Businesses became operational as quickly as possible. The Waveland Wal-Mart operated out of a tent for 3 months following the storm; Diamondhead Discount Drug was opened within 2 days following Katrina, although the owner's store and home were both severely damaged. Other business such as Dairy Queen and Subway donated their foodstuffs, before it could spoil, in order to feed survivors.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|553|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|474|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|79|sqmi}} (14%) is water.WEB,weblink United States Census Bureau, November 4, 2014, August 22, 2012, 2010 Census Gazetteer Files, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130928074019weblink">weblink September 28, 2013,

Major highways

• 20px Interstate 10
• 20px U.S. Highway 90
• 20px Mississippi Highway 43
• 20px Mississippi Highway 53
• 20px Mississippi Highway 603
• 20px Mississippi Highway 607

Adjacent counties and parishes

• Pearl River County (north)
• Harrison County (east)
• St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana (south)
• St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana (west)

Demographics

{{US Census population|1820= 1594|1830= 1962|1840= 3367|1850= 3672|1860= 3139|1870= 4239|1880= 6439|1890= 8318|1900= 11886|1910= 11207|1920= 10380|1930= 11415|1940= 11328|1950= 11891|1960= 14039|1970= 17387|1980= 24537|1990= 31760|2000= 42967|2010= 43929|2020= 46053|estyear=2023|estimate=46159

weblink December 16, 2021, data.census.gov, !Race!Num.!Perc.

PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, April 5, 2024, |align-fn=center

PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU

PUBLISHER=UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY

PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU

ARCHIVE-DATE=MARCH 27, 2010

TITLE=CENSUS 2000 PHC-T-4. RANKING TABLES FOR COUNTIES: 1990 AND 2000

ACCESS-DATE=NOVEMBER 4, 2014, 2010-2013STATE & COUNTY QUICKFACTS>URL=HTTP://QUICKFACTS.CENSUS.GOV/QFD/STATES/28/28045.HTML

ACCESS-DATE=SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20110607051127/HTTP://QUICKFACTS.CENSUS.GOV/QFD/STATES/28/28045.HTML

ACCESS-DATE=MAY 20, 2020, }}{| class="wikitable"

White (U.S. Census)>White (non-Hispanic)|37,341|81.08%

African American (U.S. Census)>Black or African American (non-Hispanic)|3,911|8.49%

Native American (U.S. Census)>Native American|244|0.53%

Asian (U.S. Census)>Asian|424|0.92%

Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)>Pacific Islander|9|0.02%

Race (United States Census)>Other/Mixed|2,206|4.79%

Hispanic (U.S. Census)>Hispanic or Latino|1,918|4.16%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 46,053 people, 20,036 households, and 13,081 families residing in the county.Hancock is the only county in Mississippi where Roman Catholics outnumber Baptists. Catholics comprise a plurality of residents of Hancock County, owing to the county's French colonial heritage and proximity to deeply Catholic Southern Louisiana.JOURNAL, Royal Berglee, PhD, June 17, 2016, 4.3 United States: Population and Religion,weblink en-us,

Communities

Cities

• Bay St. Louis (county seat)
• Diamondhead
• Waveland

Census-designated places

• Kiln
• Pearlington

Unincorporated communities

• Ansley
• Clermont Harbor
• Lakeshore
• Leetown
• Napoleon
• Necaise
• Shoreline Park (former CDP)

Ghost towns

• Gainesville
• Logtown

Politics

{{PresHead|place=Hancock County, Mississippi|whig=no|source1=WEB,weblink Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, Leip, David, uselectionatlas.org, March 2, 2018, }}{{PresRow|2020|Republican|16,132|4,504|321|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|2016|Republican|13,811|3,344|482|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|2012|Republican|12,964|3,917|286|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|2008|Republican|13,020|3,768|268|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|2004|Republican|12,581|5,107|181|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|2000|Republican|9,326|4,801|421|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1996|Republican|5,820|4,303|1,254|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1992|Republican|6,422|4,651|2,367|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1988|Republican|7,763|3,760|164|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1984|Republican|7,662|2,630|52|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1980|Republican|5,088|3,544|283|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|3,765|3,855|222|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1972|Republican|5,133|745|71|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|1,065|904|4,072|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1964|Republican|2,550|1,501|0|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|719|2,132|502|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1956|Republican|1,421|1,179|74|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|1,347|1,578|0|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1948|Dixiecrat|151|222|1,402|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|137|1,642|0|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|197|1,550|1|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|164|1,284|16|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|109|1,349|14|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|456|1,284|0|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|192|467|50|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|130|305|3|Mississippi}}{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|68|512|2|Mississippi}}{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|28|365|59|Mississippi}}

Education

School districts include:WEB,weblinkweblink April 14, 2022, live, 2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Hancock County, MS, U.S. Census Bureau, July 31, 2022, - Text list

• Bay St. Louis School District
• Hancock County School District
• Picayune School District

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hancock County, Mississippi

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080828180109weblink">Hancock County Library System
• Hancock County Sheriff's Office
• Hancock County School District
• {{Commons category-inline|Hancock County, Mississippi}}
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070311104829weblink">Mississippi Courthouses – Hancock County

{{Geographic location|Centre = Hancock County, MississippiPearl River County, Mississippi>Pearl River County|Northeast =Harrison County, Mississippi>Harrison County|Southeast =|South = Gulf of Mexico|Southwest =|West = St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana|Northwest =}}{{Hancock County, Mississippi}}{{Mississippi}}{{Authority control}}{{coord|30.39|-89.47|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-MS_source:UScensus1990}}