Hancock, NY

Hancock is a Delaware County village at the meeting of the East and West branches of the Delaware River, with 908 residents in the 2020 census. The river becomes the Delaware proper at the village and then follows the New York–Pennsylvania border. NY 17 and NY 97 converge here, and a bridge carries traffic into Pennsylvania, giving Hancock a role as a gateway between the Southern Tier, the Upper Delaware valley, and the Catskill foothills. The village sits inside the much larger town of Hancock, whose forests, hamlets, and river corridors stretch well beyond the compact center.

Hancock was established as a village in the late eighteenth century, and the town took its name from John Hancock when it separated from Colchester in 1806. The Erie Railroad reached the area in 1848, turning the river junction into a trade and travel point; the Southern Tier rail line still runs through the valley. Today the village center, Route 97, the Delaware branches, Hancock Central School, and river access all point to the same geography. Hancock is a New York village where two rivers join, a state line begins, and road, rail, and valley routes meet.