Happy Jack is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

located in the Mogollon Rim Region of

Coconino County Coconino County is a County (United States), county in the North Central Arizona, North-Central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff, Arizon ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States. The

Lowell Discovery Telescope The Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT), formerly the Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT), is a aperture telescope owned and operated by Lowell Observatory. The LDT was built at a dark sky site in the Coconino National Forest near Happy Jack, Ar ...

is located there. It is located on Lake Mary Road southeast of

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...

History

Happy Jack was founded in 1947 as a

logging camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

. The community also contained a ranger station and post office. By 1948, 300 people lived in the town, and at its peak, housed around 500 people. The town was built by the Saginaw and Manistee Lumber company. The community petitioned for a school in 1970. The first logging camp closed approximately 30 years after it opened. The logging company requested Happy Jack be moved 13 miles, closer to Clints Well, starting around 1974. The Happy Jack post office moved 15 miles down the road to a place known locally as Long Valley in 1983 and is also known as Happy Jack Too. However, Long Valley does not appear on any maps.

Etymology

The town was founded at a place called Onion Flat, and was originally called "Yellowjacket." However, three other Yellowjacket place names already existed, so a new name had to be chosen for the new community. Happy Jack may have been named for a cheerful local lumberman. However, another newspaper report says the Coconino National Forest Supervisor Ronald Rotty named Happy Jack, after an area of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

where a bandit named Happy Jack committed crimes.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Happy Jack has a

Continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

, abbreviated "Dsb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Happy Jack, Arizona
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References

External links

Map of Happy Jack, Arizona
{{authority control Populated places of the Mogollon Rim Unincorporated communities in Coconino County, Arizona Unincorporated communities in Arizona 1947 establishments in Arizona Populated places established in 1947