Geography

Hanks is located on North Dakota Highway 50, and has the latitude of 48.603° N, and the longitude of −103.802° W.
The elevation is 2,116 feet (645 m), and is located in the Central Time Zone

Central Time zone

In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...

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History

Hanks was founded in 1916 along a Great Northern Railway branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

 that ran from Stanley

Stanley, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,279 people, 576 households, and 332 families residing in the city. The population density was 740.3 people per square mile . There were 664 housing units at an average density of 384.3 per square mile...

 to Grenora

Grenora, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 202 people, 98 households, and 58 families residing in the city. The population density was 342.7 people per square mile . There were 139 housing units at an average density of 235.8 per square mile...

. The name honors W.F. Hanks, a banker from Powers Lake

Powers Lake, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 309 people, 148 households, and 84 families residing in the city. The population density was 312.1 people per square mile . There were 183 housing units at an average density of 184.8 per square mile...

. During the 1930s, a man hung himself in the basement of the town bank. The town was included in the National Geographic article The Emptied Prairie, published in January of 2008.