Bumble Bee, Arizona

Bumble Bee is a ghost town in the Bradshaw Mountains of Yavapai County, Arizona, named for nearby Bumble Bee Creek. Established in 1863, Bumble Bee served as a stagecoach stop and an outpost for the U.S. Cavalry; with a post office established in 1879.

With the demise of the stagecoach and the mining in the surrounding area, the site eventually faded away. An attempt to make the town a tourist attraction during the mid 1930s resulted in the construction of the current buildings; several of the buildings still stand.

- According to a posting on ghosttowns.com

I just got back from a trip to see Bumble Bee ... The town of Bumble Bee that stands now was built in 1936 and the only business running in the main area is a gift shop and cafe situated in the old 1930's school called the Trading Post. There is a large boarding ranch for horses not far away and various other ranches not close to the road. The place is big on rattlesnake belt buckles and paper weights with scorpions in them. I've got pictures of what looks like a fake hanging post that was set up when the town was a tourist attraction and a log cabin that I don't see on your site and is leaning dangerously over. The cabin can be seen in the background of the picture with the "hanging post". - Jess Kilgore

Bumble Bee is 8 miles south of Cordes (6 miles down at Black Canyon to the west). There is two stories how the town got his name in 1863. The first version is that US cavalry frontier post leaded by Colonel Powers, who were stationated there, reported that Indians was "that teak (big) as bumblebees". Another version is that prospectors found a bicube close to Bumble Creek and they were attacked from the bees. Stagecoach station for Prescott-Phoenix stage line build close to the creek were known as Snyder's Station, after the local rancher W.W. Snyder. When the post office was build and opened on February 3, 1879, the station changed name to Bumble Bee. The town (as standing today) was build in the late 1930. by Jeff Martin. The city was put for sale in 1949, but were first bayed in 1960 by East newspaper king Charles A. Penn who was the only man in whole USA who was owner of entire town. Penn had a plan to restore the city and made authentic railroad museum, but that never happened. The Country Store in Bumble Bee is closed today and there is No Trespassing sign. Penn’s house is still there and somebody lives there and the school is turn into souvenir store. Beside Country Store is the old street scene from the latest 1960. (witch were made for the tourist), left to the wind and rein, and on the way to disappear.

Bobby Zlatevski