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History · Hanksville

Hanksville dates to 1882, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Hanksville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listing is the Hanksville Meetinghouse-School. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1890.

1882founded
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hanksville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hanksville began

When was Hanksville founded?

1882

Hanksville dates its founding to 1882 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 81 in 18902020 census: 158144 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1889.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hanksville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 362 in 2000; 158 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hanksville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hanksville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewDirtyDevilRiver1954: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hanksville, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 362

Peaked at 362 in 2000; 158 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hanksville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Hanksville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hanksville.

Read it all →

The town was settled in 1882 and known for a time for the name given to the surrounding area, Graves Valley. It took the name of Hanksville in 1885, after Ebenezer Hanks, an early settler. It was incorporated in 1999.

The Rural Electrification Administration brought electricity to the community in 1960. Today agriculture, mining, and tourism are the main drivers to the local economy. Tourism is particularly important with people coming for recreation at Lake Powell, Capitol Reef National Park, the Henry Mountains, the San Rafael Swell, Goblin Valley State Park, Factory Butte, and the solitude of the surrounding deserts and slot canyons.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hanksville, 1882 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882
    FoundingHanksville is established
  3. 1889Post officeThe Hanksville post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911BuiltHanksville Meetinghouse-School is built
  6. 1954In the archiveDirtyDevilRiver1954
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980In the archiveLake Powell, most of which is in Utah but spills into Arizona
  9. 21st century
  10. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 362
By decade

Hanksville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s–1980s3 items
DirtyDevilRiver19541954DirtyDevilRiver1954Lake Powell, most of which is in Utah but spills into Arizona1980Lake Powell, most of which is in Utah but spills into…Lake Powell, most of which is in Utah but spills into Arizona1980Lake Powell, most of which is in Utah but spills into…
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Berycopis2011BerycopisAbandoned motel2011Abandoned motelScrap metal sculptures in front of an abandoned motel in2010Scrap metal sculptures in front of an abandoned motel…Random house in2009Random house inHollow Mountain2009Hollow MountainAbandoned Old Rusty Car2009Abandoned Old Rusty CarAbandoned Home (House)2009Abandoned Home (House)Abandoned Brick House2009Abandoned Brick House
On the map

Hanksville on the map, 1954 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hanksville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hanksville on the 1954 USGS mapHanksville on the 1963 USGS mapHanksville on the 1987 USGS map1954Mt Ellen 1 SW sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hanksville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

DirtyDevilRiver1954
Retake this viewDirtyDevilRiver1954, 1954

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hanksville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hanksville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Hanksville Meetinghouse-School
Hanksville Meetinghouse-School, built 1911
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
All 1 listings
Hanksville Meetinghouse-SchoolBuilding · listed 1990

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Hanksville’s post office has been open since 1889.

Gone or out of use
South Hanksville Airportairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Hanksville’s history

What year was Hanksville founded?

In 1882, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hanksville’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1890 counted 81 people here.

What is on the National Register in Hanksville?

One place: the Hanksville Meetinghouse-School (listed 1990).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.