Day Tripping in Western Arizona: Around Kingman, Part 2

Mr. D'z "66 Diner" keeps the 1950s alive in Kingman.   

Mohave Museum of

History and Arts

A Santa Fe Caboose

The Santa Fe Railroad was a major railway company in Arizona.

Route 66 Post Office

Kingman, Arizona

The Kingman Club

has a vintage sign.

I think this is the

Kingman Depot.

Perspective is everything...

A better shot of the base

of the water tower.

Kingman takes great pride in its railroad history.

In days gone by...  Acadia Lodge

Kingman's hotel signs remind

passersby of the tourism

boom of the 1940s & 1950s.

Ramblin' Rose Motel

Orchard Inn Motel

This is a major reason for going to Kingman...

The Memorial for the eight

local firefighters who died 

fighting the fire after the 

July 5, 1973 Doxol Explosion.

A workman with a wrench hit a railroad tank car filled with propane while trying to tighten its leaking valve.  A spark ignited the leaking gas...  The explosion created a crater 1,000 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep.  Debris fell  2,000 feet away from the blast site.  107 injured people were taken to hospitals as far away as Phoenix.  12 people died.

Following the devastating explosion and fire, new regulations were created to flammable and explosive cargo is transported and stored.  

There's more to Kingman than initially meets the eye.  Some of its history is happy and some of it is sad.  There's plenty to do here while getting your kicks along Route 66.