Hancock county is located in northwestern Ohio and calls Findlay its county seat. The county population on July 1, 1999, was 69,401, an increase of 3,865 over the 1990 census.
The county is named for John Hancock, he of the conspicuous signature on the Declaration of Independence, and had its first settler -- a French tailor -- in 1769. The county seat, as well as a frontier fort here, is named for Col. James Findlay of the Ohio Frontier Army. The fort was abandoned after the War of 1812 but remained as a settlement for the pioneers of the area. In the 1880s, gas and oil was discovered which created a population spurt and solidified the area as a viable entity.