BlockHancock, Iowa
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Valley Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51536. The Survey maps it on the Avoca quadrangle. 200 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,112 feet above sea level.
On record in Hancock
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Population over time
2 figuresHancock grew from 196 to 200 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 196 | |
| 2020 | 200 | +4 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Avoca quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Avoca quadrangle1:24000
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Hancock: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avoca Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hancock in 17 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 3 flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2014 | Flood | Hancock | $5,000 | Heavy rainfall at the end of August allowed the West Nishnabotna River to rise above flood stage on the early morning on the 1st, crest during the early afternoon, and fall below flood stage during the early evening. The flooding was minor and confined to low-lying areas along the river. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Hancock | - | Emergency management report of hail measured up to 1.75 in diameter. |
| July 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Hancock | - | A tornado impacted a farm on Reflection Lane. There was significant tree damage, windows were blown out of the home, and a large barn had nearly all walls collapse and the roof was removed. There was damage to grain bins farther to the east, and trees were topped to the west along the Nishnabotna River. |
| August 2023 | Heavy Rain | Hancock | - | Public reported 4.38-inches of rainfall. |
| September 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hancock | - | Public reported an estimated 70 mph wind gust with pea size hail. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hancock | - | Emergency manager reported trees and powerlines down. |
| July 2021 | Hail | Hancock | - | Storm spotter reported ping pong size hail. |
| December 2015 | Flood | Hancock | - | Heavy rainfall over a two-day period in mid Decmbert brought the West Nishnabotna River near Hancock above flood stage with a crest to just above the flood stage of 14.0 feet. The river crested on the evening of December 14th at a state of 14.32 feet. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Hancock | - | Hail up to quarter-size lasted for around 10 minutes. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hancock | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph uprooted a few trees near Hancock and knocked down power lines. Around 3000 customers lost power in the Hancock and Underwood area. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hancock | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed several large tree branches. |
| June 2008 | Flood | Hancock | - | A week of heavy rain producing thunderstorms through June 11th fell across the Nishnabotna River basin in southwest Iowa. The heavy rain caused flooding along the West Nishnabotna from around Hancock, in Pottawattamie county, through Randolph in Fremont county to its merger with the East Nishnabotna River near Hamburg. The river at Hancock in Pottawattamie county reached an 18.5 foot crest around 1215pm CDT on June 12th, flood stage is 14 feet. The river at Hancock fell below flood stage during the evening hours of June 12th. The flooding closed several county roads and also flooded agricultural lowlands in the area. |
| June 2007 | Hail | Hancock | - | The hail was accompanied by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph which flattened corn in the area. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hancock | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at around 60 mph were reported west of Hancock. The winds were accompanied by 1 inch hail and flattened crops in the area. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hancock | - | Home severely damaged. |
| September 2010 | Hail | Hancock | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Hancock | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iola (historical) | 4.1 miles | 9 | |
| Newtown (historical) | 4.6 miles | 10 | |
| Oakland | 5.9 miles | 9 | |
| Avoca | 6.1 miles | 10 | |
| Harlan Junction (historical) | 7.5 miles | 10 | |
| Walnut | 9.6 miles | 9 | |
| York Center | 10.3 miles | 11 | |
| Minden | 10.9 miles | 11 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Hancock | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1000186 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 457227. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.