Ebenezer Hand and other Mormon settlers founded this out-of-the-way community in 1882 along the Fremont River, then known as the Dirty Devil River. The isolation attracted polygamists like Hanks, who had 2 wives, and other fugitives from the law. Butch Cassidy and his gang found refuge in the rugged canyon country of "Robber's Roost" east of town. Hanksville hasn't grown much since then. The population is only about 400. Today most people work at ranching, farming (hay, corn, and watermelons), mining, or tourism. The old stone church (on Center St one blk S of the highway) and several other buildings in town survive from the 19th century.

Woolverton Mill E.T. Woolverton built this ingenious mill during the 1920s at his gold-mining claims in the Henry Mountains. A 20 ft waterwheel, still perfectly balanced, powered ore-crushing machinery and a sawmill. Owners of the claim did not like the steady stream of tourists coming through to see the mill, so it was moved to the BLM Office at Hanksville. Drive south 1/2 mile o n 100 West to see the mill and some of its original interior mechanism.