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Hockessin () is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in New Castle County,
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
, United States. The population was 13,478 at the 2020 Census.


History

Hockessin came into existence as a little village in 1688 when several families settled in the area. The village was named after the
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
word ''hokes'', meaning good bark or good bark hill. There is a second and more likely origin for the name. While the word Hockessin does look like a Native American word, the name Hockessin did not show up on any early maps until many years after the Hockessin Meeting House was built and what is now the Village of Hockessin was never settled by the Native Americans, while they did have a hunting camp nearby. There was no town name Hockessin and the area was referred to as Mill Creek Hundred. The actual name is believed to be derived from one of the first settled properties which was named Occasion and settled by William Cox in 1726 and also the location of the first Quaker meetings in the area before Hockessin Meeting House was built a few years later. The earliest known use of the word Occasion was in 1734 in a property deed for this property. And the road to the Hockessin Meeting House, currently Old Wilmington Road, was written as Ockession Road on a map in 1808. The first
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church in Delaware was located in Hockessin.
Missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
priests from
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
established the Coffee Run Mission in 1790. The A. Armstrong Farm, Coffee Run Mission Site, Hockessin Friends Meetinghouse, T. Pierson Farm, Public School No. 29, Springer Farm, and Wilmington and Western Railroad are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1978. More recently added sites to the National Register of Historic Places include: Tweed's Tavern, the home of Negro league baseball player James "Nip" Winters, Colored School #107C, St. John the Evangelist Church, the Daniel Nichols house, and the Cox/Phillips/Mitchell Agricultural Complex.


Geography

The community is near the northwestern border of Delaware, within of the
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
border on the east bank of Mill Creek. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and 0.10% is water.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 12,902 people, 4,464 households, and 3,731 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 4,575 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.8%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.7%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.2% Native American, 7.2% Asian, <0.1%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.5% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population. From 1990 to 2016, the population of Hockessin has grown by about 35%. There were 4,464 households, out of which 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 77.3% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.4% were non-families. 13.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.13. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $100,844, and the median income for a family was $108,784. Males had a median income of $76,617 versus $46,988 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $40,516. About 1.0% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

Although Hockessin is primarily a
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
, there are several mushroom farms operating in the area. Hockessin contains the Lantana Square Shopping Center, and the Hockessin Athletic Club, which contains a pool, indoor gym, and walking trail.


Arts and culture

Hockessin hosts several
Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...
activities for the area residents. Local groups parade down Old Lancaster Pike, neighborhoods compete in different athletic events, and there is a fireworks display in the evening in Swift Park.


Education

Hockessin is served by the Red Clay Consolidated School District for public education. Elementary schools serving Hockessin for grades K through 5 include Cooke Elementary School and North Star Elementary School. Public school students in grades 6 through 8 are zoned to Henry B. duPont Middle School. Students in grades 9 through 12 in Hockessin are zoned to Thomas McKean High School to the south of Hockessin or Alexis I. duPont High School in Greenville, with students in the western part of Hockessin attending John Dickinson High School in Pike Creek. Cab Calloway School of the Arts and Conrad Schools of Science are
magnet schools In education in the United States, the U.S. education system, magnet schools are State school, public schools with Specialized school, specialized Course (education), courses or Curriculum, curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary ...
that take middle and high school students. Private schools in Hockessin include CACC (Chinese American Community Center) Montessori School, Hockessin Montessori School, Sanford School, and Wilmington Christian School. Hockessin School District 29 and Hockessin School District 107 merged into the Alexis I. DuPont Special School District effective April 24, 1958 and March 5, 1959, respectively. The Alexis DuPont Special school district was reorganized on July 1, 1969 as the Alexis I. DuPont School District. The Alexis I. DuPont district merged into the New Castle County School District in 1978. That district was divided into four districts, among them the Red Clay district, in 1981. In the era of
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
educational segregation in the United States School segregation in the United States was the segregation of students in educational facilities based on their race and ethnicity. While not prohibited from having or attending schools, various minorities were barred from most schools that ad ...
(before circa 1970), there was the Hockessin Colored Elementary School for African-American students. New Castle County Library maintains the Hockessin Library.


Infrastructure


Transportation

The main road through Hockessin is Delaware Route 41 (Lancaster Pike) which heads southeast toward Wilmington and northwest toward the
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
border, where it becomes Pennsylvania Route 41 and continues toward Lancaster. South of Hockessin, Delaware Route 48 splits from DE 41 to follow Lancaster Pike to Wilmington while DE 41 continues along Newport Gap Pike to Prices Corner. Delaware Route 7 passes through the western part of Hockessin along Limestone Road, heading north to the Pennsylvania border and south toward Pike Creek and Christiana. The northern terminus of the Wilmington and Western Railroad, a tourist railroad, is in Hockessin; the railroad follows the Red Clay Creek valley south to Greenbank.
DART First State The Delaware Transit Corporation, operating as DART First State, is the only public transportation system that operates throughout the U.S. state of Delaware. DART First State provides local and inter-county bus service throughout the state and al ...
provides bus service to Hockessin along Route 20, which follows Lancaster Pike to Wilmington and ends at the Wilmington station served by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
and SEPTA Regional Rail's Wilmington/Newark Line. DART First State's Route 20 bus serves
park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...
lots located at Hockessin Memorial Hall and the
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
bank.


Notable people

* Neilia Hunter Biden, the first wife of
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
, the 46th President of the United States * Delsworth Buckingham, Delaware state representative *
Chris Coons Christopher Andrew Coons (born September 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, a seat he has held since 2010. A member ...
, US Senator from Delaware * Matt Denn, Lieutenant Governor of Delaware * Trevon Duval, basketball player for the
Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...
* Tony Graffanino,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player * Bernard Hopkins, professional boxer * Kent A. Jordan, Federal Judge on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...
* Sohan S. Shah, medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College and 2014 National Geographic Bee state winner


References


External links


Hockessin, Delaware profile on City-Data.com
{{authority control Census-designated places in New Castle County, Delaware Census-designated places in Delaware Populated places established in 1688 Delaware placenames of Native American origin