Crown King, Arizona
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Crown King is a "living" ghost town, located in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States, at an elevation of 6,000 feet.
The site of a former gold mining town, Crown King is 28 miles west of Interstate 17 on Senator Highway high in the Bradshaw Mountains. There are four ways to get to Crown King, but only two routes are accessible by two-wheel drive vehicles and all are dirt roads.
Crown King can be accessed by taking either exit 248 (Bumble Bee exit) or exit 259 (Bloody Basin Road) on I-17 and continuing past the ghost towns of Bumble Bee and Cleator if you take 248, and Cordes and Cleator if you take 259.
Exit 248 (Bumblebee) is 10 miles shorter than Exit 259 (Bloody Basin) but the tradeoff is that 248 is all dirt and taking 259 you travel another 10 miles north on the paved route of Interstate Highway 17.
One idea is you can take each road one way and decide yourself which one you like better.
Both routes take approximately one hour traveling at an average speed of about 25 miles an hour. You do not need a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get to the town, but a vehicle with high clearance is preferred and good suspension is highly recommended. The road up the bradshaw mountains was originally the location of the railroad track that took ore from the mines to nearby Prescott.
Once in town you can get eat and drink either at the historic Crown King Saloon which is at the end of the 1 block long "main street", or at The Mill, which is up on the hill to the left just before you turn right into town.
There is also the nicely stocked Crown King General Store owned by Carol and Ben which is famous for their homemade fudge, a chapel, fire station, and Crown King Curio, where the owners Greg and Aimee, will make you feel like home. Here you can pick up a unique t-shirt or other memorabilia.
While an active mining town, Crown King was serviced by the Bradshaw Mountain Railroad. Rail service to the area began in 1904 upon completion of "Murphy's Impossible Railroad" -- a series of switchbacks and trestles that ascended the mountain terrain between Cleator and Crown King.
There are a number of places to stay in Crown King: Bradshaw Mountain Resort, Bear Creek Cabins and Cedar Roost are the most popular. You can also rent a room above the Crown King Saloon - basic place to crash, just like in Europe.
Not far out of town is Horse Thief Lake. A Google Map reference for Crown King [1]
More info at [ http://www.crownking.com/]
The zip code for Crown King is 86343.
[edit] History
Although the town is named after the Crowned King mine and was originally named Crowned King, the first recorded gold claim in Crown King was "Buckeye" and was filed by Rod McKinnon on July 1, 1875. The town's name was shortened from Crowned King to Crown King in 1888.
At it's height, the town had 500 buildings, including several company stores and boarding houses, two Chinese restaurants and a post office. The town was electrified by 1897 and had one telephone at that time.
Of the buildings still standing and in use in Crown King, the Crown King Restaurant and Saloon has become the center of activity in the town. The building itself has an interesting history. The building was originally constructed in the nearby mining town of Oro Belle (now also a ghost town) and having been brought to Crown King in 1910 in pieces, on the backs of mules, when Oro Belle closed. The building was home to a brothel and bar in both towns.
The post office was established on July 29, 1875 and was discontinued on May 15, 1954. It has since been reopened inside the Crown King General Store.
[edit] References
- Philip Varney, Arizona Ghost Towns and Mining Towns: A travel guide to history, Phoenix, Arizona Highways Books, 1988, 117 pages.
[edit] External links
