Hackberry is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) in

Mohave County Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United St ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. It is located on

Arizona State Route 66 State Route 66 (SR 66) is a surface road in the U.S. state of Arizona in Mohave and Coconino Counties. In 1914, the road was designated "National Old Trails Highway" but in 1926 was re-designated as U.S. Route 66. In 1985, U.S. Route 66 was dro ...

(former

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

) northeast of Kingman. Hackberry has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

which as of 2015 served 68 residential mailboxes with ZIP code 86411. As of the 2020 census, Hackberry had a population of 103.

History

A former mining town, Hackberry takes its name from the Hackberry Mine which was named for a hackberry tree in a nearby spring. Prospector Jim Music helped develop the Hackberry Silver Mine in 1875. Mining of various metals developed the town, sending it from boom to bust based on fluctuating commodity prices. The Indianapolis Monroes Iron Clad Age of June 12, 1886, includes a brief article titled "They Changed the Minds of Several", referring to an educated miner from the area: "J.J. Watts writes from Hackberry, Arizona: 'The books you sent me last year have changed the minds of several to whom I loaned them. It is a pity that liberal books and papers cannot be more generally circulated and read. If they could be we should soon have more outspoken, honest men that would dare to speak their true sentiments.'" Based on an article taken from the July 24, 1909, edition of the ''Mohave County Miner'' out of Kingman, Arizona, J.J. Watts was an old prospector. Here is that article. "Some time ago the report was current in Kingman that Indians had killed an old prospector, in the Wallapai mountains, first burying the body and later burning up everything of an incriminating nature. The man was supposed to be J. J. Watts, who mined and prospected in the Music mountain range many years. William Grant, the Hackberry merchant, this week received a letter from B.F. Watts, of Marshall, Oklahoma, conveying the information that J.J. Watts died at

Lander, Wyoming Lander is a city in Wyoming, United States, and the county seat of Fremont County. It is in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River, just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation. It is a tourism center with several nea ...

, last winter. The man who was killed by the Indians is believed to be a stranger that came to Kingman and was lured to the mountains by the Indians by a story of a lost mine that they had found in that section. The man was killed by Willietopsy and his sons, so it is reported by the other Indians." By 1919, infighting between the mine's owners had become litigation, and the ore was beginning to be depleted. The mine closed; Hackberry briefly almost became a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

. Various service stations in town served

travelers after the highway came to town in 1926; all were shut down after

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

bypassed the town. I-40's path between Kingman and Seligman diverges widely from the old Highway 66 segment between these points, leaving Hackberry stranded from the new highway. Hackberry Road would not even be given an off-ramp. John Grigg operated a

Union 76 76 (formerly Union 76) is a chain of gas stations located within the United States. The 76 brand is owned by Phillips 66. Unocal, the original owner and creator of the 76 brand, merged with Chevron Corporation in 2005. History The Union O ...

service station on Route 66 in Hackberry from the 1920s until his death in 1967. The Northside Grocery (established 1934) and its Conoco station were among the last to close, in 1978. Hackberry almost became a ghost town again, but members of the Grigg family have lived there since the 1890s and continue to live there. Six generations of the Grigg family are buried in the Hackberry cemetery. In 1992, itinerant artist

Bob Waldmire Robert Waldmire (April 19, 1945 – December 16, 2009) was an American artist and cartographer who is well known for his artwork of U.S. Route 66, including whimsical maps of the ''Mother Road'' and its human and natural ecology. Being the son ...

re-opened the Hackberry General Store as a Route 66 tourism information post and

souvenir shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collec ...

on the former Northside Grocery site. Waldmire sold the store to John and Kerry Pritchard in 1998 due to local disputes regarding the environmental and aesthetic impact of

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

, which by that time were establishing themselves in the area to remove local stone for use in

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

. The store remains in operation with a collection of

vintage car A vintage car is, in the most general sense, an old automobile, and in the narrower senses of car enthusiasts and collectors, it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930. Such enthusiasts have categorization schemes for ages of cars that enf ...

s from the heyday of

U.S. Route 66 in Arizona U.S. Route 66 (US 66, Route 66) also known as the Will Rogers Highway, was a major United States Numbered Highway in the state of Arizona from November 11, 1926, to June 26, 1985. US 66 covered a total of through Arizona. T ...

; in 2008, its owners donated land for a new

fire hall __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

to be built for the community.

Geography

Hackberry is in eastern Mohave County along

, northeast of Kingman, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

, and west of Seligman. Hackberry Road runs south from the town, leading to U.S. Route 93 south of

. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the Hackberry CDP has an area of , all land. The town sits at the west end of Truxton Canyon, followed by Route 66 as it climbs to the east. Truxton Wash flows northwest into the

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

Hualapai Valley Hualapai Valley is a valley in Mohave County, Arizona. Location Hualapai Valley is an endorheic basin and its watershed terminates in the dry lake or playa called Red Lake at an elevation of 2762 feet. It is bounded on the east by the Grand Wash ...

, ending at Red Lake from Hackberry.

Education

Most of the community is in the Hackberry School District. A portion of the community is in the Valentine Elementary School District.

History

Geography

Education

Images of Hackberry

Demographics

References

Further reading

See also