Hackberry, Arizona

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Hackberry, Arizona
Unincorporated community
Hackberry General Store
Hackberry, Arizona
Coordinates: 35°22′09″N 113°43′38″W / 35.36917°N 113.72722°W / 35.36917; -113.72722Coordinates: 35°22′09″N 113°43′38″W / 35.36917°N 113.72722°W / 35.36917; -113.72722
Country United States
State Arizona
County Mohave
Founded 1874
Elevation 3,583 ft (1,092 m)
Time zone Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
ZIP code 86411
Area code(s) 928
GNIS feature ID 5466[1]

Hackberry is an unincorporated community in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. Hackberry is located on Arizona State Route 66 (former U.S. Route 66) 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Kingman. Hackberry has a post office which serves 68 residential mailboxes with ZIP code 86411.[2]

History

A former mining town,[3] Hackberry was named by the first inhabitants, Charles Cummings (Cummings Ranch). The name "Hackberry" was from the pellets or mattings that gathered on the cattle's long hair, probably caused from burrs picked up from bushes in the area. Silver mining developed the town, but when the ore began to yield less Hackberry became a ghost town.

Various service stations in the town served U.S. Route 66 travellers; all were shut down after Interstate 40 in Arizona bypassed the town. Interstate 40's 69-mile path between Kingman and Seligman diverges widely from the old 82-mile Highway 66 segment between these points, leaving Hackberry stranded sixteen miles from the new highway. Hackberry Road would not even be given an off-ramp. The Northside Grocery (established 1934)[4] and its Conoco station were among the last to close, in 1978.[5]

Hackberry became a ghost town.

In 1992, itinerant artist Bob Waldmire re-opened the Hackberry General Store as a Route 66 tourism information post and souvenir shop on the former Northside Grocery site.[6] At one point, he was the town's only resident.[7]

Waldmire sold the store to John and Kerry Pritchard in 1998[8] due to local disputes regarding the environmental and aesthetic impact of quarries, which by that time were establishing themselves in the area to remove local stone for use in landscaping.[9]

The store remains in operation with a collection of vintage cars from the heyday of U.S. Route 66 in Arizona; in 2008, its owners donated land for a new fire hall to be built for the community.[10]

Notes

  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hackberry, Arizona
  2. ZIP Code Lookup
  3. James Hinckley; Kerrick James (2006-11-15). Backroads of Arizona: Your Guide to Arizona's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures. p. 17. ISBN 9780760326893. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 
  4. Joe Sonderman (2010-10-06). Route 66 In Arizona. p. 106. ISBN 9780738579429. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 
  5. William Kaszynski (2003-05-01). Route 66: Images of America's Main Street. p. 128. ISBN 9780786415533. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 
  6. American Motorcyclist. 1995-02-17. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 
  7. "Route 66 a storied highway to bygone era". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. Oct 5, 1997. p. 13A. 
  8. Joe Sonderman (2010-10-06). Route 66 In Arizona. p. 106. ISBN 9780738579429. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 
  9. Matt Kelley, Associated Press (Sep 13, 1998). "Quarries vs. natural beauty keeps discord festering in Hackberry". Kingman Daily Miner. p. 1B. 
  10. "Hackberry to get fire station". Kingman (Arizona) Daily Miner. Sep 24, 2008. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 

References

  • MY LIFE by George Cummings The Story of an American family during the early 1800's and early 1900's
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