Going down this road (Crown King road, FR 259), you reach Bumble Bee at about 5 miles, Cleator at 11 miles and Crown King at about 28 miles. Only the first few miles are paved. The turnoff for Cordes is between Bumble Bee and Cleator. It is a dirt road (Antelope Creek Road) leading north. Take this road a few miles to Cordes Junction.
Bumble Bee received its name because the "indians were as thick as bumble bees," when an outpost was set up here in 1863. There was a stage stop at this point and a post office was granted in 1879, for the name Bumble Bee. A little bit of placer gold was found here, but nothing panned out. The town hung on for a while. The building above was built in 1930's. There were a few reconstructed buildings here, but they were torn down a few years ago.
In 1883, John Henry Cordes bought a stage station on Antelope Creek. Soon after he was granted a post office, but couldn't use Antelope Station, it was already taken. So, he named the station Cordes. The post office closed in 1944, but the Cordes family still lives at the site.
Today, there is an old gas station, barn, a few old cars and a couple other buildings.
Cleator was already a ghost town once by the time the townsite was bought by Leverett Pierce Nillis in 1901. The town, formerly, Turkey Creek was started in 1864 as a stage station due to gold discovery in the hills around it. In 1869, it was granted a post office. The town only lasted another 5 months and was abandoned until 1901.
In 1901, Nellis built a store, saloon and reopened the old post office. The next year the railroad came through. In 1905, James Cleator bought the town from Nellis. Ten years later he remaned it after himself. Eventually, as the mines closed, the town dried up.
Today, there are some great remains. Among them is an old school (above), the Cleator store, and a few other buildings.
