The largest mine in the Bradshaws, and the one that gave its name to the local settlement was the Crowned King Mine. Years later, the name was shortened to its current form, Crown King. The first claim located in the Crown King group was the Buckeye, by Rod McKinnon on July 1, 1875.

O. F. Place had been developing his claims in the area of the future Crowned King Mine for some years, using contracted miners. He and a man named Moody were working the Buckeye claim in 1882 with six men. Local legend maintains that the first claim in the Crowned King group was discovered by a Walnut Grove schoolteacher named John L. Taylor who traded it to Place for
a saddle (or saddle horse, depending on the version). Place then gave Bradshaw City storekeeper, Noah Shekels, a half interest
in the claim in payment for a debt at the store.
In any case, the vein continued to show
promise, and in June, 1887, Place was visited by
an eastern capitalist, George P. Harrington. Harrington had originally come to Arizona to investigate placer claims on Lynx Creek for a brother of Governor N. Oakes Murphy and railroad tycoon Frank Murphy. He came back to Arizona that fall, and in November returned to his home in Edinburg, Illinois, after spending a month in the Bradshaws with Place. He was said to have developed a very high opinion of the mines in the Bradshaws. Harrington, Place and Shekels went on to form the Crowned King Mining Company on the basis of the work that Place and Shekels had done on their claims. They began filing applications for patents on mining claims in the area of the Crowned King in late 1887. Articles of Incorporation for the Crowned King Mining Company were filed in January, 1888.

Shekels, as superintendent of the new mine, erected a saw mill on the site in May, 1888, and began to assemble machinery for a ten-stamp mill, which was to start operation in July. The new mill was an expansion of Luke’s original Basin Mill. A post office was established at the Crowned King in June, 1888, with George P. Harrington as the first postmaster. The mill actually began operation in August, and was said to be a very complete one. Shekels had fifty mules hauling ore from the mine to the mill, but as usual in the Bradshaws, operation of the mill was sporadic due to a scarcity of water. However, by late October rains supplied plenty of water, and the mill was running day and night. The company also erected a store at the mine site at this time. Good ore continued to show up in the mine through 1889, and by the end of that year the company was piping in water for the mill, and was also building a road to connect the mine and mill. The present Crown King road passes right next to the remains of the mill’s rock foundation about a half mile before reaching the Crown King store.