This is a work in progress to compile as comprehensive as possible a listing numbers and titles of individual Arthur Emon Hackett stereographs of Arizona. Each listing will include a brief biographical overview, in addition to the checklist of stereoviews complied to date.
Arthur Emon Hackett was born on April 11, 1866, in Moira, New York. His family moved to Odessa, Michigan and later to Berlin, Michigan. At 18, Hackett was in Santa Fe, New Mexico and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Arthur was assigned to Company B of the 13th Infantry and served as a printer. He was later assigned to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and was discharged on July 8, 1889, after serving at Fort Totten in the Dakota Territory.
About 1889, the Signal Corps transferred a portion of its operations, the Weather Bureau, to the Department of Agriculture. Hackett joined the Weather Bureau and was first assigned to Tennessee, then to Columbia, Missouri.
In 1904, Hackett and his family were transferred from Missouri to Flagstaff, Arizona. At some point, Hackett became a serious amateur photographer. He self-published a souvenir album which included his photographs of the area in and around Flagstaff in 1907. By 1909 the Coconino Daily Sun discussed his work, noting that though he was not a professional, he produced professional quality photographs. Late that year, in December, he opened a formal studio which was a sidebar to his Weather Service job.
Hackett produced and marketed a series of gray, curved mount stereographs which may have included more than 100 individual titles, primarily scenic views of subjects such as the lava beds in the Sunset Mountains, the San Francisco peaks, Oak Creek Canyon, and Walnut Canyon. In addition to his album and stereographs, he also produced a series of postcards of similar subjects.
Apparently his photographic efforts were successful enough that he decided to transition to photography as a full-time career. Hackett stopped working at the Weather Bureau just after Arizona’s statehood; his last day was February 29, 1912. It appears that his stereo work stopped about the time he became a full-time professional photographer.
He named his new business “The Arizona Photo Company.” In April 1912, he sold his home in Flagstaff and moved his photographic business to the larger market in Phoenix.
In August 1913, the Flagstaff paper alerted the community that ex-weatherman and resident Arthur Hackett was operating a substantial mail order Kodak processing service, noting that his service was called “the largest in the Southwest outside of Los Angeles.” His local representative was the Hunter Drug Company.
The primary focus was amateur photofinishing, but he also provided news and stock photographs. The company included a number of assistants, including his adopted daughter, Laura, who is listed as a photographer in the 1920 census. The Arizona Photo Company continued operating until Arthur retired in 1928.
Arthur Emon Hackett died August 5, 1932, and was buried in Greenwood cemetery in Phoenix.
(from Arizona Stereographs 1865-1930 by Jeremy Rowe, 2014)
If you have additional information about Arthur Emon Hackett, examples of stereographs that are not on this list, or variant titles I would appreciate hearing from you. Ideally, I would like to obtain either a Xerox copy or scan for my files as well. Thanks in advance for your time and assistance.
Please feel free to use this information but please credit this source and reproduce only with full credit information.
Thank you.
©Jeremy Rowe
2017
PHOTOGRAPHER: H.A.
Hackett, Flagstaff, Arizona
SERIES: Published by H.A. Hackett, Flagstaff, Arizona
DATE: (ca 1900)
MOUNT COLOR: buff curved mount
SUBJECT: Scenes in and around the Flagstaff area
2. The Lodge, Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz.
5. Observatory Hill, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
17. On the road to Fisher's Tank
19. Road to Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz.
21. Cliff Dwelling, Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
31. Walnut Canyon near Fisher's Tanks.
36. Winter in the Pines, Flagstaff, Ariz.
38. Hanging Rock, Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
54. Prehistoric fortifications on the "Island", Walnut Canyon
55. Fort Valley and San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff, Ariz.
55. (alt) Forester's Cabin, Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
59. The "Island", Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
62. Looking back from the "Saddle", Walnut Canyon, Flagstaff, Ariz.
79. At the edge of the Lava, Sunset Mountains, Flagstaff, Ariz.
81. In the Lava beds, Sunset Mountain, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
83. The Devil’s Ditch, Sunset Mountain, near Flagstaff, Ariz.
104. Yards of the Arizona Lumber and Timber Co., Flagstaff, Ariz.
[?] (scenic near Flagstaff)
At the Lava Beds - an old vent. In Walnut Canyon
Lava beds, Sunset Mountain.
Looking northeast across Sunset. Top of Eldon Mountain.
©Jeremy Rowe
2017
jrowe@vintagephoto.com
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