[2] The county was incorporated on June 25, 1789, and named for John Hancock,[3] the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The county high point is Cadillac Mountain, 1527 feet, the highest summit on the U.S. Atlantic seaboard.

The largest ancestry groups in Hancock County, Maine according to the 2000 census are: 96.8% spoke English, 1.5% French and 1.0% Spanish as their first language.

The 1990 Census counted 46,948, though the 1998 population estimate is 49,932.1 The gender division was 22,996 males, 23,952 females in 1989.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 54,418 people, 24,221 households, and 14,834 families living in the county.

The U.S. Census data are not dependable for determining the numbers of individuals involved in the fishing industry.

Because the majority of fishermen in Maine are considered self-employed, the statistics underreport fishing employment.

Bar Harbor, Brooklin, Brooksville, Hancock, Lamoine, Mount Desert, Penobscot, Sedgwick, Sorrento and Sullivan were also noted as having either significant fishing activity or a significant number of people who fish.

Jackson Laboratory, noted for cancer research, is located in Bar Harbor.

Two institutions of higher education are located in Hancock County: Maine Maritime Academy at Castine and the College of the Atlantic at Bar Harbor.

The American Lung Association issues annual State of the Air reports.

[17] The county's Commissioners are William F. Clark, John Wombacher and Paul Paradis.