Drake was a town in the early 1900s, which grew out of a railway work camp for construction of the very high "Big Hell Canyon Railroad Bridge", on high trestles, completed in 1901. It was first known as Cedar Glade, and had a population of 70 in 1909. It was renamed to "Drake" in 1920.[2]
In 1912 Cedar Glade "became the junction for the Verde Valley Railroad, which accessed a copper smelter in Clarkdale .... Approximately 20 structures had been built there by the railroad, including a depot, agent's house, water tank, a number of section houses, bunkhouse, and freight warehouses. The railroad kept a small staff in Drake thru the 1950s."[2] Cedar Glade was home to a boarding house and veterinarian, as well as the Swanbeck store.[3]
Northern Yavapai County, 1925, showing the locations of Drake and Puntenney
In 1920, Drake's population was recorded as 18.[4]
In 1919, the towns of Puntenney and Cedar Glade were placed under quarantine due to a Smallpox outbreak. No resident was allowed to leave either community, although passengers on the Santa Fe Railroad were still allowed to change cars at Cedar Glade.[5] 1922 saw a running gunfight through the streets during the era of prohibition.[6]
A separate schoolhouse was built in 1928, though children were taught in Drake by teachers around 1920, and earlier they crossed the railway trestle to attend school in Puntenney, Arizona.[2] In October 1919 a two-room house and the public school in Cedar Glade were burned, and school was dismissed.[7] The 1920 Census listed Barnetta Ball, age 39, as "Teacher Public School."[2] Elizabeth Stroud was teacher in Drake mentioned in a January 30, 1922, article in the Arizona Republic.[8]
Drake was also the nearest community to Little Hell Canyon Bridge, another road bridge about 8 miles (13km) up Hell Canyon, when that was listed on the National Register in 1987.
In 1944 the average annual precipitation for Drake, which is in a valley at elevation 4,610 feet (1,410m), was believed to be 14.10 inches (0.358m).[9]
"One of the abandoned buildings in the Drake area", in 2006
In 1956, the Republic Cement Corporation of Delaware proposed building a cement manufacturing plant in the town of Drake after obtaining mining claims in Drake and in San Bernardino, California.[10]
Drake's population was 17 in 1940,[11] and was 12 in the 1960 U.S. Census.[12]
The road bridge between Drake and Puntenney has been blocked by the Drake Cement plant.[13]
Drake is the location of the historic Cedar Glade Cemetery, also known as Drake Cemetery, which is located on property of the Drake Cement Company.[14] In 2019 the Drake Cement company gave notice of intent to remove all remains and relocate the historic Cedar Glade Cemetery, on its property. The cemetery had burials from c.1891 to c.1930.[15]
Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from Cohonino, a name applied to the Havasupai people. It is the second-largest county by area in the contiguous United States, behind San Bernardino County, California. It has 18,661 sq mi (48,300 km2), or 16.4% of Arizona's total area, and is larger than the nine smallest states in the U.S.
Yavapai County is near the center of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 236,209, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Prescott.
Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. It is within the Coconino National Forest.
Clarkdale is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The Verde River flows through the town as does Bitter Creek, an intermittent tributary of the river. According to the 2021 census, the population of the town was 4,419.
Jerome is a town in the Black Hills of Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, Jerome is more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. It is about 100 miles (160 km) north of Phoenix along State Route 89A between Sedona and Prescott. Supported in its heyday by rich copper mines, it was home to more than 10,000 people in the 1920s. As of the 2020 census, its population was 464.
The Verde River is a major tributary of the Salt River in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is about 170 miles (270 km) long and carries a mean flow of 602 cubic feet per second (17.0 m3/s) at its mouth. It is one of the largest perennial streams in Arizona.
The Prescott National Forest is a 1.25 million-acre United States National Forest located in north central Arizona in the vicinity of Prescott. The forest is located in the mountains southwest of Flagstaff and north of Phoenix in Yavapai County, with a small portion extending into southwestern Coconino County.
The Verde Canyon Railroad is a heritage railroad running between Clarkdale and Perkinsville in the U.S. state of Arizona. The passenger excursion line operates on 20 miles (32 km) of tracks of the Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad (AZCR), a shortline. The Verde Canyon Railroad has its depot, headquarters, and a railway museum in Clarkdale, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Sedona.
The Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad is an Arizona short-line railroad that operates from a connection with the BNSF Railway at Drake, Arizona. The AZCR runs 37.8 miles (60.8 km) from Drake to Clarkdale, Arizona. An excursion train also runs on the line through Verde Canyon and is operated by the same owners under the Verde Canyon Railroad. The AZCR is owned by David L. Durbano.
Crown King is an unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States, located at an elevation of 5,771 feet (1,759 m). Crown King has a ZIP Code of 86343; in 2000, the population of the 86343 ZCTA was 133. 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. The community is named after the Crowned King mine, but the name was shortened to Crown King in 1888. Horsethief Basin Lake resides 6.5 miles southeast of Crown King on Crown King Rd/Forest 259 Rd.
Jerome Junction is a ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. Established in 1894, the community served as a railroad transfer stop between the town of Prescott and the town of Jerome. It served as a transfer point between the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway (SFP&P) and the narrow-gauge United Verde & Pacific Railway for 25 years. The narrow-gauge line was built precariously on the side of Woodchute Mountain by William A. Clark after he bought the United Verde Copper Company. In 1917 it had a population of 150. When it was replaced by standard-gauge line on the east side of the mountain from Jerome to Clarkdale in 1920, Jerome Junction became a ghost town, and in 1923, the activities of the former town were absorbed by Chino Valley.
Canyon Diablo is a ghost town in Coconino County, Arizona, United States on the edge of the arroyo Canyon Diablo. The community was settled in 1880 and died out in the early 20th century.
Perkinsville, Arizona, is a populated place in Yavapai County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a hamlet about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the Perkinsville Bridge over the Verde River.
Aultman was a settlement now within the town of Camp Verde in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. It has an estimated elevation of 3,281 feet (1,000 m) above sea level.
Joseph Mayer was an American businessman, gold prospector and pioneer who founded the town of Mayer, Arizona.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
