Kingman

U.S.A.

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Kingman is in Northwestern Arizona, nested in the scenic Hualapai Valley between the Cerbat and Hualapai mountain ranges.
Kingman is a historic town not far from the Hoover Dam, Lakes Mead, Havasu and Mohave, various ghost towns, Las Vegas, Laughlin, the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.
Kingman was founded in 1883 as a railway town.
The founding 'father', a railway engineer, Lewis Kingman named the township after himself.
The town was incorporated in 1952 and became the county seat for Mohave in 1887.
Today's Mohave County Airport was an air force base during World War II, now storing many surplus warplanes.
Once Charles Linbergh, the first pilot to fly across the Atlantic solo, stopped here, according to locals.
Clark Gable married Carole Lombardin the local Methodist Church.
Andy Devine the Actor grew up in Kingman, and the main street bears his name.
Kingman's development was greatly helped by the construction of dams on the Colorado River.
Many motel, cafés and service stations opened after the commissioning of Route 66, one of the most famous roads in America.
Kingman is located in the middle of the longest remaining preserved stretch of Route 66.
Today Kingman continues to be an important route for many on their way to Las Vegas, Phoenix or Los Angeles, also for many fishermen and water sport lovers on their way to Lakes Mead, Havasu and Mohave and the Colorado River.
Reasonably low land prices and favourable Arizona taxes, the well developed Airport Industrial Park, route I-40, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway mainline, and the proximity to the California market attract many manufacturers and distributors, such as Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company.
Kingman's strategic location to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Laughlin, Phoenix and the Grand Canyon has made tourism, manufacturing/distribution, and transportation leading industries and the regional trade, service and distribution centre for northwestern Arizona.
Kingman, today is a vibrant, exciting and growing city, with a strong work force and growing retirement community with a population of around 40,000, at about 3,336 feet above sea level.
Kingman and its historical downtown shops are part of the Arizona Main Street Program. Kingman's climate is mild in the winter and cooler in the summer, with under 10 cm of rain annually.
Some of the attractions in and around Kingman are the Bonelli House, the Methodist Church across the road from it, the Hotels Brunswicka and Beale, the Mohave Museum of History and Art and the Locomotive Park, home to famed "Northern type" coal burning steam engine #3759.
Rebuilt in 1927, and converted to run on oil fuel in 1941 and the colourful caboose that was added to the park in 1987, are great spots to learn more of the area's history.
Kingman has two 18 hole golf courses, multi sport complex, four lighted tennis courts, two lighted basketball courts, two lighted racquetball courts, a walking track, an Olympic sized swimming pool, horseshoe pits and two soccer fields, seven softball fields, nine parks, one bowling alley, aerobic and weight lifting centres and two public swimming pools.
More than 60 buildings in Downtown Kingman are on the National Registry of Historic Buildings.
A real old time underground gold mine.
The Powerhouse Route 66 Museum.
Kingman is in the "Heart of Historic Route 66", in the longest stretch of Route 66 still in existence between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Route 66 is sometimes also known as the Main Street of America, The Wire Road, The Will Rogers Highway and the Mother Road to mention only a few.
The Grand Canyon Caverns, where you will see what the earth is like 21 stories below are just outside of Kingman.
Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lakes Mead, Havasu and Mohave and the Colorado River, the Waboyuma Peak Trail and the Cherum Peak Trail, White Cliffs Wagon Trail Park are some of the interesting places nearby.
Also within easy distances are Chloride and Oatman, interesting towns that will take you back to the old mining days in Arizona.
The Hualapai Mountain Park and Cerbat Mountains, the Colorado River areas offer unique recreational and historical, mountain scenery, hiking, picnicking, camping, and other outdoor activities.

We spent sometime in Kingman on our way back to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon.
There was some very funny activity at the railway line, that I still don't know what it was to date.
There were about eight heavy diesel engines nose to tail, all with engines running and some sparkling activity, like welding, but without welders, going on by the wheels and track.
When I wanted to explore the activity I was told to 'get lost'.
So I got lost.
A few minutes later a bit further down the road I was quite impressed by a couple of trains going in opposite direction about five minutes apart.
I started to film and count the first one, but I lost my patience after 90.
I just estimating now, but probably another 30 or more passed me by.
Many houses, front yard, side yards and back yards, verandas are set up as museums or 'junk yards' with a wide variety of machinery, implements and other items stored in, on, over or under it, in Kingman and many other places around there we passed through.
I ran around town, while the others in the van had their comfort brake taking some video and photos of an interesting little town.

You can click on these photos for an enlargement.

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