Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hanna

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Hanna

Hanna’s post office opened in 1890, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Hanna was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Hanna Community Hall. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1940.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hanna’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hanna began

When was Hanna founded?

1890

The Hanna post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Kortes Dam (1947), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,127 in 19402020 census: 683136 years
Founding year: the first Hanna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hanna’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 2,288 in 1980; 683 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19143 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1982. Watch Hanna change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Hanna, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019401960198020002020Peak: 2,288

Peaked at 2,288 in 1980; 683 people lived here in 2020.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

On the map

Hanna on the map, 1914 to 1982

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

Hanna on the 1914 USGS mapHanna on the 1971 USGS mapHanna on the 1982 USGS map1914Hanna sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story so far

Hanna, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hanna yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hanna is a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 683 at the 2020 census. The town was started as a coal supply location for the Union Pacific Railroad. Much of the old town is built on top of the former workings of the Hanna No. 4 mine. On December 18, 1979, the Town of Hanna annexed the adjacent Town of Elmo. The population peaked at 2,288 in 1980 and has declined as local coal mines have ceased operation.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 841 to 683 (-19%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Hanna, 1890 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Hanna post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1920In the archiveLabor Day parade in
  6. 1927Born herePeter Forakis is born here
  7. 1947Post officeThe Kortes Dam post office opens
  8. 1951Post officeThe Kortes Dam post office closes
  9. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,288
By decade

Hanna, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s5 items
Labor Day parade in1920Labor Day parade inLabor Day parade in1920Labor Day parade inLabor Day parade in1920Labor Day parade inLabor Day parade in1920Labor Day parade inLabor Day parade in1920Labor Day parade in
1930s–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
Today3 recent
Hanna Community Hall2014Hanna Community Hall2009-0722-Hanna20092009-0722-HannaWYMap-doton-Hanna2004WYMap-doton-Hanna
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.

Labor Day parade in
Retake this viewLabor Day parade in, 1920

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hanna

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
1983
Hanna Community Hall
Hanna Community Hall
Buildings
Hanna Community HallBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Hanna’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Kortes Dam, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hanna
1890–today
Kortes Dam
1947–1951
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Elmo
Gone or out of use
Hanna Number Four MinemineHanna Number Four-A MinemineHanna Number Two Minemine

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

Help out

Finish Hanna’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

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

Questions about Hanna’s history

What year was Hanna founded?

The Hanna post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hanna?

One place: the Hanna Community Hall (listed 1983).

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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.