Drake, Arizona
Unincorporated community
Santa Fe 3751 pulls an excursion train across Hell Canyon on the BNSF, 2012
Santa Fe 3751 pulls an excursion train across Hell Canyon on the BNSF, 2012
Drake, Arizona is located in Arizona
Drake, Arizona
Drake, Arizona
Location within the state of Arizona
Drake, Arizona is located in the United States
Drake, Arizona
Drake, Arizona
Drake, Arizona (the United States)
Coordinates: 34°58′54″N 112°22′34″W / 34.98167°N 112.37611°W / 34.98167; -112.37611
CountryUnited States
StateArizona
CountyYavapai
Elevation
4,610 ft (1,410 m)
Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
ZIP codes
86334

Drake was an unincorporated community on the Verde River in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States, and a station on the BNSF Railway's Phoenix Subdivision. Drake is also the junction and western terminus of the Verde Canyon Railroad. Drake is the site of the old Hell Canyon Bridge (built in 1923), formerly used by US Route 89, and now on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

History

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
historical population
YearPop.±%
190970—    
192018−74.3%
194017−5.6%
196012−29.4%

Drake was also the nearest community to Little Hell Canyon Bridge, another road bridge about 8 miles (13 km) 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 (1,410 m), was believed to be 14.10 inches (0.358 m).[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]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register of Historical Places - ARIZONA (AZ), Yavapai County".
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kathy Block (November 18, 2011). "A Tale of Two Towns: Cedar Glade (Drake) and Puntenney, Arizona". American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project. (Internet version)
  3. ↑ "Closing of Road Apt to Boom Cedar Glade". Prescott Weekly Journal-Miner. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  4. ↑ Premier Atlas of the World: Containing Maps of All Countries of the World, with the Most Recent Boundary Decisions, and Maps of All the States, Territories, and Possessions of the United States with Population Figures from the Latest Official Census Reports, Also Data of Interest Concerning International and Domestic Political Questions. Rand McNally & Company. 1925. p. 166.
  5. ↑ "Cedar Glade and Puntenny Are Quarantined". The Coconino Sun. April 29, 1921. p. 7. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Prisoner Flees When Arrested". Prescott Journal Miner. August 2, 1922. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Schoolhouse Burns Down at Cedar Glade". Flagstaff Coconino Sun. October 24, 1919. p. 6.
  8. ↑ "Accepts School in Chandler". Arizona Republic. January 30, 1922. p. 5.
  9. ↑ U.S. Department of Agriculture Field Bulletins (1944)
  10. ↑ Commission, United States Securities and Exchange (1960). Decisions and Reports. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 20.
  11. ↑ The Attorneys List. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Attorney List Department. 1940. p. 85.
  12. ↑ "Arizona". World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. A. Chicago, IL: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. 1960. p. 557.
  13. ↑ "Puntenney".
  14. ↑ Du Shane, Neal (January 11, 2013). "Tale of Two Towns: Cedar Glade Cemetery, Drake, AZ". American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project. Neal Du Shane.
  15. ↑ "Drake Cement LLC Cemetery Relocation". Yuma Sun. February 22, 2019. p. 13. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
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