Ghost Towns, Bumble Bee, Arizona

Bumble Bee
Drove through bumble bee on memorial weekend and unfortunately most of the original building have been destroyed or torn down. The only building that still stands is a building made of rock, but has been refurbished with new windows, electricity and tin roof. There are a dozen or so semi-modern houses occupied.

History:
Bumble Bee is a ghost town in the Bradshaw Mountains of Yavapai County, Arizona, United States, 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 and are occupied.

Bumble Bee, Arizona and the nearby creek were given its name in 1870 when a Nevada former slave owner, J.X. Theut, first spotted the water source that saved his life. It is at this creek that Theut ran into the legendary drunk named K. Billingsley Callaway. Legend holds that Theut, known for being notoriously swift on his feet, came to the conclusion of tossing a rock at a bee hive which rested 2 feet from the maniac Billingsley Callaway. Theut tossed the pebble and the bees attacked Billingsley. Billingsley, being allergic to bees fell ill and crawled away back into his cave. Nobody has seen either man since.

Date: 05.27.2011
Temp: 95°
Elevation: 2,579 ft
DD (decimal degrees)*
Latitude: 34.20165
Longitude: -112.15263

History: wikipedia