North Powder was platted in 1885 or 1886 along the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company rail line, having been a stage stop before then.[5] David Eccles, a Mormon businessman, created the Hall Brothers Lumber Company in the town once the railway arrived.[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.64 square miles (1.66 km2), all of it land.[7] This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C).[4] Anthony Lakes ski area is west of North Powder, in the Elkhorn Mountains and Wallowa–Whitman National Forest.