Hancock County was the site of the infamous massacre of Iroquois leader Chief Logan's family in 1774, at Baker's Tavern across the Ohio River from the mouth of Yellow Creek.

The event, known as the Yellow Creek massacre, sparked Lord Dunmore's War.

Adam Poe had his famous fight with the Indian known as Big Foot at the mouth of Tomlinson Run in 1781.

[6] In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government.

This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts.

[7] Hancock County was divided into four districts: Butler, Clay, Grant, and Poe.

The highest point of elevation in Hancock County is approximately 1363 ft. and located about 1800 ft. ESE of Emmanuel Mission Church.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 30,676 people, 13,297 households, and 8,732 families living in the county.

[16] In terms of ancestry, 21.1% were German, 18.7% were Irish, 15.6% were Italian, 12.5% were English, 8.0% were Polish, and 6.2% were American.

The Hancock County Commissioners in 2024 are Paul Cowey, Jeff Davis and Eron Chek.

Vacancies occurring in unexpired terms can be filled by a respective Circuit Court Judge.

Hancock County currently has three magistrates: Ralph A. Fletcher, Omeka D. Petteway, and Stephen Svokas.

[21] Other elected officials are Sheriff Scott Gittings, Circuit Clerk Sandy Casto, County Clerk Karan Valenti, Assessor Joe Alongi and Prosecuting Attorney Steven E.

[22] Abutting the free states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and with a largely German–American culture unlike any other part of antebellum Virginia, Hancock County and the rest of the Northern Panhandle were central to the vanguard who made West Virginia a new state during the Civil War.

[23][24] For the next six and a half decades the county, aided by its association with Pennsylvania's powerful ironmaster-led political machines, voted solidly Republican to the point of supporting William Howard Taft during the disastrously divided 1912 election.