Karnak was first called Fairview but because there was another town named Fairview in North Dakota, it was changed to Karnak, November 20, 1912. Henry Curtis owned the land that is now Karnak but in 1910 the Great Northern Railway bought it and sold it by lots.
In the fall of 1910, the St. Anthony Grain Elevator and J. Hogness store were built. The following spring the Karnak Grain and Fuel Company elevator, the E. W. Trapp store and Fieber blacksmith shop started in business, also the Crane-Johnson Lumber yards. In 1916 the Farmers Elevator and several dwelling houses were erected. The early settlers of the community were J. W. Freer, John Kerber Sr., Mark Curtis, Henry Curtis, M. Magnuson and Albert Larson.
The rumbling of the trains and the shrieking whistles could be heard at intervals day and night. Freights came to unload lignite coal or to pick up grain or livestock for St. Paul. The fast passenger train made its appearance daily. Last but not least there was the little multi-purpose train fondly called the "Dinkie". It must have been related to Margaret Shank's "Coffee Train" because it showed up at Karnak at "Coffee Time" both forenoon and afternoon. It stopped to pick up passengers, mail and cans of cream or drop off passengers, and empty cream cans.
As the dry years and the depression came in the late 20's and 30's Karnak's population declined and business places closed. Two of the three elevators closed. Owners of the first grocery store left for Tacoma, Washington. Store number two closed about ten years later. The Trapp Family exodus was unique in that they took their house and store building with them. The pool hall burned down. The bank closed and the building became another grocery store plus post-office.
By the middle 1900's the decline was accelerated to the extent that Karnak is now back to one-grain elevator as a place of business and a population of seven.
Mrs. E. W. Trapp, still living in West Fargo, 90 plus years young, helped with some of the data for this project, as did Mary Kerber of San Francisco, the only surviving member of the John Kerber, Sr., immediate family.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 235