Booklet Review: A Wandering Walk Guidebook: Kingman, AZ

 A Wnadering Walk Guidebook: Kingman, AZ by Tom Alyea, Wandering Walks of Wonder, Las Vegas, NV, 2019.

This a very quick description of a three mile hike through downtown Kingman.  It starts with a brief history of the town, from Captain Beale who laid out an east to west trail across the United States in 1857, to Lewis Kingman who planned a rail terminal in late 1870s.  The town was officially founded in 1882.  It became the county seat in 1887.  

Kingman received rapid expansion during WWII when the Kingman Army Air Field provided training the machine gun operators for the B-17 bomber, the flying fortress.  35,000 airmen were trained during the war.  After the war the same area was used as a storage and recycling facility for thousands of planes which were no longer needed.  

The hike starts at the power house on Route 66/Andy Devine.  The power house was built 1907 and supplied power not only for Kingman but many nearby communities and mines.  When Hoover Dam was completed in 1938 it soon became obsolete to the hydroelectric capability of the dam. 

Other highlights on the hike include the Santa Fe depot, Beale Hotel where Andy Devine wandered as a child, the Brunswick Hotel where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed when they were married.  The Mohave Union High School gymnasium with its unique ceiling.  It is all that is left of the old Kingman High School which moved to Bank Street and has now been replaced by Lee Williams High School.  The Kingman Grammar (now Palo Christi) School is behind the courthouse, The courthouse and old jail, St. Mary's Church, AT&T offices.  The Bonelli House is now a museum.  The Elks Lodge built in 1904 is the oldest freternal organization, The I.O.O.F.  was the second built in 1912.  The Little Red School House was replaced by the Grammar School.  The Masonic Temple is on Fourth Street, as is the Central Commercial Building, an early store.  

Kingman Andy Devine/ Route 66 downtown from Fourth to Third

 On the north side of Andy Devine is a lot of history and art.  This includes a parking lot where the Harvey restaurant was located, Hotel Beale, Hotel Brunswick, Garibaldi's restaurant, Old Trails Garage and on the corner is the running hare and an informational kiosk that talks about the history of theater in the Kingman area.  Hotel Brunswick now houses an art gallery but only available by appointment.  

Two murals on the side of Hotel Beale

The Kingman Power House

 The Kingman Power House was constructed to provide elecricty to Kingman and the local area, including many mines.  It was constructed between 1906 and 1909.  It relied 9n coal powered generators.  It brought the first electricity to Kingman and ran until the completion of Boulder dam which brought cheaper hydroelectricity to the area.  At that time it remained as a back up, but mostly sat vacant. The building now houses the Kingman Visitors Center, Route 66 museum and the electric vehicle museum as well as the route 66 store.

Other visitor center pictures

Charles Lindbergh

Lewis Kingman

Andy Devine

Doxol Fire Tragedy as per Mohave Museum of History and Art

 The Doxol Fire Tragedy is engrained in the fiber of Kingman.  One of the local high schools is called Lee Williams after a volunteer fireman who was principle at Kingman High School.  Their mascot is the Volunteers.  

On July 5, 1973, during the transfer of gas from a rail car a fire started which killed a Doxol employee immediately.  Another employee was able to summon the fire department.  This set up the tragedy.  They firemen tried to keep the tank cool as best they could, but it exploded killing twelve men.  

Kingman Army Air Field as told at the Mohave Museum of History and Art

 Army Air Field was established in Kingman as a place to train those operating the machine guns aboard the B-17 Flying Fortress.  

7000 planes were received at Kingman for storage in the desert.