In October 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale and his experimental Camel Corps trudged across the present site of Kingman, Arizona surveying a wagon road along the 35th parallel.

After the first travelers encountered hostile Indians in the area, Fort Mojave was established on the Colorado River. Off-duty soldiers scouted the hills and found gold and silver.

Mining camps sprang up in the years to come and in the early 1870's cattle were driven in to take advantage of the lush grasses.

Ironically enough, Kingman, Arizona located in a natural basin, surrounded by basaltic hills, was established not as a mining camp, but because of the railroad.

In 1880, Lewis Kingman surveyed along the Atlantic and Pacific right of way between Needles and Albuquerque. By 1883 the track was completed.

The first reference found of Kingman is from the Alta Arizona, a newspaper published in Mineral Park. The issue of 10 June 1882 states, "There is a new town on the tapis at or near Beale Springs."

In October 1882, the Alta Arizona refers to the sampling works at Kingman, also saying that Middleton is to be hereafter named Kingman, where in November, 1882, a rooming house, stores and other buildings were going up.

Conrad Shenfield, contractor for the track laying for the railroad, was an entrepreneur of sorts, obtaining land at various locations along the route of the railroad. He established and sold lots in Kingman before clear title of the land was obtained. It appears that Shenfield ran afoul of the law and some finagling went on. The town site location was not railroad land, but belonged to the United States.

The town of Kingman, located on the railroad, grew rapidly in the first few years. Growth was encouraged in 1886 when the Mohave County Miner, the newspaper established in 1882 at Mineral Park, moved to Kingman.

Further evidence of growth came in 1887 when the County Seat was moved from Mineral Park to Kingman. The story told by old timers is that in the dark of night, a group of Kingmanites stole all the county records from the Mineral Park courthouse and moved them to a temporary courthouse in Kingman. Mineral Park shouted "thieves" but a county election that had been held in November of 1886 had legally given Kingman the county seat.

By 1888 most of the original town site lots had been sold. On the north side of the Santa Fe line, on Front Street, now called Andy Devine Avenue, the business district grew, while the south side, South Front Street, now called Topeka Street, became Kingman's best district for homes.

Kingman sustained a steady growth through the late 1880's and 1890's. In 1890 the population was 300 and in 1900 it was about 500. There is evidence of a building boom around the turn of the century. Despite a major economic depression in 1893 when the price of silver fell from $1.29 to $.78 oz., the comparative increase in the value of gold, plus the cyanization separations process introduced into Arizona in 1895 resulted in an influx of miners and promoters. The discovery, in May 1900 of Gold Road, a rich gold strike in the Black Mountains, helped to make Kingman a center for the mining activities of the county.

Kingman was lively and bursting its seams in the first decade of the new century. The fourth of July was the big event of the year, complete with Indians, orators, dances, a rodeo and the drilling contest, the test of skill and strength so dear to the miners. Circuses and wild west shows played to enthusiastic audiences, and the Mohave County miner interrupted its devotion to mining articles to call for the building of more hotels and to castigate the county for its lousy roads.

At the end of the First World War mining was still not operating at the peak production and Kingman was feeling a pinch. In 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's one industry was the Yucca Fiber Factory which made rope from the yucca plant. Kingman, in an effort to promote the area put out numerous brochures touting the excellent climate and healthful area.

The next few years saw the revival of the mines, good roads and the excitement over the coming of Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam). Kingman had the advantage of being located on the railroad and on U.S. 66.

The first airport, laid out by Charles Lindberg, was dedicated on June 8, 1929. Kingman Army Air Field, constructed in 1942, is the site of the present airport.

Kingman and the surrounding area has a population of about 40,000 people. The growth of the hilltop area has added a new hospital, major shopping areas, a new golf course, parks and other recreational areas. Kingman has several elementary schools, a Jr. High School, two High Schools, and Mohave Community College. Interstate 40 which now bypasses downtown Kingman has opened up new commerce areas near the interchanges.

The mountains and lakes around Kingman offer numerous recreational opportunities. Mohave County boasts 1,000 miles of shoreline on the Colorado River, Lake Mead, Lake Havasu, and Lake Mohave. These areas provide fishing, boating, swimming, and other water sports.

Fourteen miles southeast of Kingman is beautiful Hualapai Mountain Park, at an elevation of 6,700 feet, where overnight camping, picnicking, hiking and other activities are available.

Near Kingman there are ghost towns and old mining town sites including Oatman and Chloride. These places are interesting to visit and they help preserve the heritage of the area.
 

Location: West side of Fort Beale Drive. Access to the trail head is via a dirt road that parallels the “Black Mesa Coal Slurry Line.”

The City of Kingman has completed the Camp Beale Loop trail, a multipurpose (non-motorized) hiking, mountain bicycling, and equestrian trail.

The trail is a 3.2 mile loop, meandering to the top of the mesa, and back down. Grades average 5 percent, with some short sections reaching 10-12%.

Views from the top of the mesa overlook various sections of the community.

Location: From downtown Kingman, drive westbound on Beale St. to Fort Beale Dr. Turn right, go approx. 1.5 miles. Turn left into parking lot.

The "official" Fort Beale Springs was established in 1871, by Company F, 12th U. S. Infantry out of Fort Whipple.

The Camp was established to provide continued protection along the Fort Mojave and Prescott Toll Road and to act as a feeding and supply station for the Hualapais.

The camp remained active until April 6, 1874, when the Hualapai were forced to leave Camp Beale Springs for the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation at La Paz (near modern day Parker, Arizona).

After 1874, the springs again became a camp site/way station on the toll road. The site remained active, well into the twentieth century.

Activities in and around the springs have included ranching/farming, a way station hotel, ore milling, a water works, and mining.

Now the Beale Springs site is a water source for the rapidly developing city of Kingman. A water reservoir was built there that is still standing. Local tradition says that in addition to serving its intended purpose it has at times doubled as a swimming pool.

For some years after the Beale Spring site was no longer inhabited, local people held picnics there and enjoyed the water and the shade provided by fruit trees that had been planted many years before.

Location: Across from the Powerhouse Visitors Center at 1st. St. and Andy Devine

Locomotive Park is home to famed steam engine #3759.

Rebuilt in 1927, this "Northern type" coal burning steam locomotive was converted to run on oil fuel in 1941.

The last steam engine to traverse the line to Kingman, it was presented to the city as a historical monument in 1957 by the Santa Fe Railroad. A colorful caboose was added to the park in 1987.

Over 100,000 tourists from around the world visit the Powerhouse every year.

The Kingman Area Chamber of Commerce relocated the Tourist Information Center to the building in 1997.

Other users include: The Carlos Elmer (Arizona Highways Photographer) Gallery, Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona Gift Shop, Memory Lane Diner, Model Railroad Store, Old West Store, Historic Route 66 Museum, Kingman Area Chamber of Commerce Office, and a large meeting room for community functions.

The Powerhouse was opened July 31, 1907 to supply more centralized and consistent electric power to operate hoists and pumps located in the area mines.

The completion of Hoover Dam in 1938, and the generation of cheap hydroelectric power spelled the end of the Kingman Powerhouse as an electric generating station.

By 1940, the Powerhouse ceased electric production but was used as a substation and equipment storage facility.

The Powerhouse Gang, was formed in 1978 to consider the rehabilitation of the Powerhouse into a similar project.

A partnership involving many groups formed in 1995 to complete the Powerhouse rehabilitation.

The Powerhouse’s rebirth represents the best of a community’s efforts to save a significant building in Arizona’s history. This success will also provide an anchor for the further redevelopment of Historic Kingman, Arizona.


The Kingman Multiple Resource Area contains 60 individual National Register historic properties.
Examples of some of the more well-known historic properties include St. Mary's Catholic Church, the Little Red School House (currently the City Municipal Court), the Bonelli House, Locomotive Park, Hotel Beale, Hotel Brunswick, Hubb's House, Kingman Drug (currently El Palacio Restaurant), and the Powerhouse Visitors Center.

The City of Kingman established an Historic Overlay District in a portion of downtown Kingman in 1996. The district includes the area along Andy Devine Avenue from the Powerhouse to the Santa Fe Train Depot on Fourth Street.

A Walking Tour Guidebook of Downtown Kingman is available at either the Mohave Museum of History and Arts or at the Powerhouse Visitor's Center. This map includes 27 special places to see and explore in and around Kingman with a brief history on each building.


Explore a piece of history along the wagon road that was once used to bring ore from the Stockton Hill Mines to the railroad.

You can see part of an old ore wagon route used in the late 1800's to bring ore from the Stockton Hill Mines to the smelter in Kingman.

The wagon tracks have been cut deep into the stone and there are depressions along both sides of the roadbed, which were used for stubbing posts and ropes to help get the heavy wagons up and down the grade.
 

The pre-history of Kiingan belongs to the Anasazi, the "Ancient Ones," and their Native American descendants, principally the Haulapai, Havasupai and Mohave tribes.

Before being subdued by the settling of the West, these nomadic tribes roamed the area from northern Arizona's Verde Valley to the southern border of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River as far south as Quartzite. Their artistry typified nomad culture: distinctive basketry, woven blankets and pottery for food and water.

Visitors may hike, camp, hunt, fish or raft on nearby Haulapai lands by obtaining permits from the tribal headquarters in Peach Springs.
Spaniards searching for gold explored the area as early as the 1500's and were followed by Anglo explorers in the early 1800's.

In 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale and his team of explorers came to survey a wagon route along the 35th parallel to the Pacific Ocean. His survey party used camels for transportation, a novelty that never caught on. Nonetheless, the Beale Road, which stretch from Ft. Defiance, New Mexico to the Colorado River, became a popular path for prospectors seeking fortunes of gold, silver, copper and turquoise.

In the early 1880's, Lewis Kingman surveyed a railroad route between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Needles, California, which for much of its length paralleled Beale's road.

The fledgling settlement along the track's route was designated "Kingman" after the enterprising surveyor in 1882. Framed businesses popped up everywhere and, in 1887, Kingman was declared county seat of Mohave County, spurring the construction of a courthouse and county jail.

After World War II, the need for the Kingman Army Air Base ended and the town turned increasingly to the tourist market. Historic Route 66 paralleled the railroad route, leading millions westward to California throughout the early 20th Century. The travelers brought prosperity to Kingman as a trade and transportation center and Route 66 became an essential part of Kingman's personality.