Map of Maine Counties and Baxter Park

Map of Maine Counties and Baxter Park

Hancock County is one of two downeast coastal counties located east of the Penobscot River. It was formed when the extensive Lincoln County split on June 25, 1789 by adding Hancock and Washington counties. The westerly portion of the new Hancock County was eventually split off to form Waldo County. See an 1860 map of the county in the Map Cabinet.

The county includes several major islands (Deer Isle, Swans Island, and Mount Desert Island) and Acadia National Park.

Currently the county consists of the following: towns of Amherst, Aurora, Bar Harbor, Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Bucksport, Castine, Cranberry Isles, Dedham, Deer Isle, Eastbrook, Ellsworth, Franklin, Frenchboro, Gouldsboro, Great Pond, Hancock, Lamoine, Mariaville, Mount Desert, Orland, Osborn, Otis, Penobscot, Sedgwick, Sorrento, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Sullivan, Surry, Swans Island, Tremont, Trenton, Verona Island,  Waltham and Winter Harbor; and several unorganized townships.

Hancock County Courthouse (2004)

Hancock County Courthouse (2004)

Castine was the first county seat until 1838 when the shire town was moved to the City of Ellsworth, which now hosts the county government, courthouse, and the county jail.

In 2010, Hancock County was Maine’s eighth largest county by population at 4.3% of the state’s total, with a census count of 54,418, a 5.1% more than in 2000.

People QuickFacts (updated November 4, 2010) Hancock County Maine
Population, 2009 estimate 53,447 1,318,301
Population, percent change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 3.2% 3.4%
Population estimates base (April 1) 2000 51,791 1,274,915
Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2009 5.0% 5.4%
Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2009 18.6% 20.6%
Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2009 17.3% 15.6%
Female persons, percent, 2009 50.9% 51.2%
White persons, percent, 2009 (a) 97.1% 96.1%
Black persons, percent, 2009 (a) 0.4% 1.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2009 (a) 0.4% 0.6%
Asians percent, 2009 (a) 0.8% 1.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2009 (a) Z Z
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2009 1.2% 1.1%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2009 (b) 1.1% 1.4%
White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2009 96.1% 94.9%
Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct 5 yrs old & over 61.7% 59.6%
Foreign born persons, percent, 2000 2.3% 2.9%
Language other than English at home, pct age 5+, 2000 3.6% 7.8%
High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000 87.8% 85.4%
Bachelor’s degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000 27.1% 22.9%
Persons with a disability, age 5+, 2000 9,287 237,910
Mean time to get to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2000 22.4 22.7
Housing units, 2009 37,342 704,578
Homeownership rate, 2000 75.7% 71.6%
Housing units in multi-unit structures, percent, 2000 8.7% 20.3%
Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000 $108,600 $98,700
Households, 2000 21,864 518,200
Persons per household, 2000 2.31 2.39
Median household income, 2008 $47,849 $46,419
Per capita income, 1999 $19,809 $19,533
Persons below poverty level, percent, 2008 10.8% 12.6%
Business QuickFacts Hancock County Maine
Private nonfarm establishments, 2008 2,199 41,7551
Private nonfarm employment, 2008 17,327 509,0931
Private nonfarm employment, percent change 2000-2008 1.3% 3.5%1
Nonemployer establishments, 2008 7,506 113,522
Total number of firms, 2002 8,493 135,410
Black-owned firms, percent, 2002 F 0.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native owned firms, percent, 2002 F 0.5%
Asian-owned firms, percent, 2002 F 0.6%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander owned firms, percent, 2002 F S
Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2002 F 0.5%
Women-owned firms, percent, 2002 20.2% 24.0%
Manufacturers shipments, 2002 ($1000) 558,543 13,851,915
Wholesale trade sales, 2002 ($1000) 196,905 10,371,084
Retail sales, 2002 ($1000) 665,174 16,053,515
Retail sales per capita, 2002 $12,733 $12,370
Accommodation and foodservices sales, 2002 ($1000) 145,110 2,045,841
Building permits, 2009 173 3,1211
Federal spending, 2008 484,081 11,974,3611
Geography QuickFacts Hancock County Maine
Land area, 2000 (square miles) 1,587.70 30,861.55
Persons per square mile, 2000 32.6 41.3
FIPS Code 009 23
Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area None
1: Includes data not distributed by county.
(a) Includes persons reporting only one race.
(b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories.D: Suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information
F: Fewer than 100 firms
FN: Footnote on this item for this area in place of data
NA: Not available
S: Suppressed; does not meet publication standards
X: Not applicable
Z: Value greater than zero but less than half unit of measure shown
Source: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/23/23009.html (accessed April 29, 2011)

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