Nov 08, 2018
Doing some local exploring
There is so much to see and do in this area but we were limited in time so had to choose our activities carefully. Kingman became a name on the map around 1882 with a rooming house, a few stores and other buildings. The railway track between Needles and Albuquerque was completed in 1883 and the town grew rapidly. By 1888 most of the original town site lots had been sold. Rich gold strikes in the nearby Black Mountains between 1900 and 1920 helped make Kingman a center for the mining supplies, equipment and services. By 1919 there were seven garages, three meat markets, two drug stores, two churches, a Western Union, two lumber yards, a picture show and numerous hotels and saloons. Kingman had the advantage of being located on the railroad and on US 66. Then in 1929 Arizona State’s first commercial airport was established and dedicated by Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. There is a lot of history here in this town. Did you know that Clark Gable and Carol Lombard where married here on March 29, 1939?
We started at the Visitor Center, picked up a Historic Downtown Walking Tour and just meandered from there.
Mr. D’s is still in business and the diner is so authentic inside. Hopefully we will have a chance to stop in for a snack. There is not much that we can eat on the regular menu but a pumpkin pie milkshake sounds tasty:)
The town is full of old vehicles.
This one is so cool. Love these colors.
Lots of fun.
On Colin’s 16th birthday he came home from school to find his birthday gift. It was a teal colored 1956 Oldsmobile just like this one. He didn’t even have a driver’s license!
Many of the old buildings now house current businesses.
In the window of a closed building.
This used to be the Post Office and was built in 1935 as Kingman’s first standalone office.
The former Elks Lodge-Kingman #468 was founded in 1899 and formally dedicated in 1904. It was built of locally quarried Tufa stone.
The Mohave County Courthouse was built in 1915 at a cost of $80,000.00. A huge amount of money back then.
The Little Red Schoolhouse was built in 1896.
Built in 1928, the Santa Fe Locomotive #3759 ran passengers between Los Angeles and Kansas City for over 20 years and traveled more than 2.5 million miles.
Don’t those letters A.T. & S.F. make the song run through your mind. Click below to listen to the song.
Much as we wanted to stick around town and look at more old buildings it was time to hit that historic Route 66. As we drove we imagined what it might have been like back in the day. Of course we wished that we were doing the drive in my Z3. What fun that would be. The following photos are mine as I wasn’t driving.
What a unique message 🙂
This guy just appeared out of nowhere.
We really had no idea what this drive would entail. But as we approached the Black Mountains it became apparent that the previous warning signs were serious. “Mountain Crossing Ahead”. “No truck over 40 feet”. Okay we were in the Jeep so we were good to go.
We could just image the folks back in the day stopping for a cold soda or to top up their tank. Nice to see it still open.
The road was getting curvy.
Interesting formations. The terrain kept changing.
We came around a turn and there they were. Not at all interested in us.
Quite the climb complete with drop off edges. It took several hairpin turns and curvy roads with little road space to get us from the bottom of the valley to up here.
To be continued………
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Loved touring around Kingman so many interesting sights. And that drive into Oatman sure is and interesting fun one. Hope you get to see a gunfight on the main street there and the honeymoon suite. at the hotel.
We got there too late for the noon gunfight.
I’m glad you’re getting your kicks on route 66!
I tried to add a link to the song by Nat King Cole but it didn’t work…might be fun to listen to as you drive.
BTW…I was looking on YouTube for a 4k screensaver for our tv and came across some beautiful videos of Zion National Park and others…I’m sure it will bring back memories of your time there.
Enjoy your trip!
We did get our kicks enroute. It was a fun day.
Love Kingman. especially the train. We ride up for lunch when we stay in Laughlin. Have done the ride via Oatman many times but burro poop and overdone touristy places aren’t for us. Each to their own.
Yes, I have read about your rides up to Oatman. That was part of the reason we checked it out.
Loved the pictures. I wonder what the Burro was thinking when looking at the camera?
He really was giving me the eye! I think that we disturbed him.