I’ve been saving this clip to when we get to Kingman, so here it is, the famous Route 66 tune to set the stage.
We left Oatman, and seeing how close we were to Vegas, we decided to go north and visit relatives. In the meantime, we headed to Kingman for the night.
The first we saw when we arrived in Kingman was a memorial for the 1973 Kingman explosion, also known as the Doxol disaster; a catastrophic boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) that took 12 lives. A sad reminder to unnecessary deaths.
Next stop was Mohave Museum of History and Arts
A heritage museum with a variety of displays from First Nations to current times.
It takes the visitor through the traditions, cosmology, and worldviews of the Mohave, Hualapai, Chemehuevi, Havasupai and Paiute Indians.
Evidence of the material culture left behind by these nations and those that came and went before them.
The impact of the newcomers to this land,
and the material culture that they introduced to this land.
Lastly, there were some cool natural heritage displays.
And of course, rocks,
and more rocks.
Kingman Visitor Centre
From there we moved on to the Kingman Visitor Centre. The visitor centre is housed in the historic 1907 Desert Power & Light Company building that supplied power to the area until the 30s, when it was replaced by hoover dam. Ironically, it supplied electricity for the Hoover Dam construction.
On the main floor there is a gift shop and visitors information, and on the second floor, the Route 66 Museum.
This museum is dedicated to the history of Route 66 through murals, photos and large dioramas. Each group that travelled through the area is portrayed in a very visual manner.
From Native American trade routes and survey expeditions,
to pioneers on their migration west over the first federally funded wagon roads.
There was a lot to look at and a lot to take in. But the dust bowl display was excellent.
One can feel the hardship and despair of the dust bowl refugees as they made their way on Route 66 in search of a better life.
We visited a 1950s Main Street America booming with Route 66 travelers.
Can you see what Tony is looking at?
This is one of the first A/Cs for cars. how cool is that?
Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum
There is a bonus museum at the back of the building; an interesting historic electric vehicle exhibit.
A large room, filled with electric vehicle of many different shapes and forms. There were many interesting vehicles and below are a few of the interesting ones.
The Buckeye Bullet 2.5 was the fastest EV in the world at 307.6 mph. It was replaced by the Buckeye Bullet 3 that clocked 341.26 mph in Sept 2016.
Of course, there was an early Tesla
Yet, it seems that sometimes we forget the long history of electric vehicles that came before Tesla.
There were many vehicles, and a lot of information,
but we can only show you a fraction of this collection.
One of our favorites was the 1909 Ellwell-Parker baggage tug (one of two known to exist in the world).
And many quirky micro cars and golf carts
Mercedes-style EV golf cart once owned by Waylon Jennings,
and a Rolls-Royce-style EV golf cart once owned by Willie Nelson.
We grabbed take out from a Mexican restaurant and made our way Zuni Village RV Park. We had a good night sleep, after exploiting the facilities for a long, wonderful shower.
A very cool excursion you had and nice slices of history – hard to believe 2008 is 15 years ago! I’ve visited Hoover Dam 9 years ago and it’s nice to learn about its predecessor on this post!
It’s a pretty cool town. Not very big, but big on history.
There is just so much in this post. “Our selfish passions blind us to the cruelty of our advance”. And the use of barb wire. Similar story to urs in Australia.
The juxtaposition of “Our Way” and the barbed wire revealed itself as I was adding the photos to the post. I’m glad you noticed!
A very interesting story. It is amazing to see all of the ideas that were tried in the past. I think the car air conditioner is the best!
Thank you! I also thought that the A/C was very cool.
What an interesting day. I wonder if Willie and Waylon golfed together taking both carts. They do look like they were made to compete with each other.
That thought crossed my mind too 🙂
I had heard of Kingman, but not much else. Looks like it has a lot going on, especially the historical museums. Thanks for sharing and have a great day. Allan
The whole area is interesting and there is something for everyone; from hiking to history.
Forgottenman and I followed the Route 66 route from St. Louis to Santa Monica years ago. We went to a different Route 66 Museum that wasn’t as fancy as this one.I believe somewhere in Arizona. Perhaps it was in Kingman and they have just moved to a fancier building. I’ll have to ask him where it was. Much of the time we paralleled the old road on the new one, but still, it was a fun trip!!!!
I think that they revamped it a few years ago, so it may have been the same one. They did a good job of telling the different stories that were etched on this road. It is still a fun trip!
;o)
The Route 66 Museum we visited was in Route 66 State Park in Eureka, MO. Forgottenman tweaked my memory. It was not as grand as the one in Kingman but still very interesting..And what a trip that was from one end to the other. Are you old enough to have watched the TV Show “Route 66?” I loved it.
Sounds like another one we should visit. I haven’t heard of Route 66, but this may not be age related because I didn’t grow up in North America 🙂
It was a very popular TV show in the 60’s.
Hmm, maybe I am also not old enough 🙂
Also, I don’t know if you saw my mumbled answers to your questions about your book.
From OATMAN (previous post) to KINGMAN — what’s next, man? San MANuel? WittMANn? “D
I can tell you that we didn’t go to Manchester, Manila or Manhattan, but managed to maneuver our way to the Man-made Hoover Dam.
We haven’t discovered that section of Arizona and Route 66, but your post is inspiring us to hit the road! Great coverage of Kingman, and we appreciate your insights.
I think that you will like it! Lots of interesting history and some cool museums along the way.
Oh, I want so much to revisit Kingman and the rest. So much has been added since I was there last.
It looks like they revamped their museums and a few new ones popped up in the area. It may be worth a revisit!
Interesting post as always. My nephew gave me a video called (I think) Who Killed the Electric Car? (The oil companies, of course.) We could have had them much earlier. Oh, well…. All the best as always, Muriel
Yeah, there were many attempts, but it didn’t stick until recently. There are still people that think that it’s just a phase and we will go back to gas.
I used to work in a restaurant in the 80s that had a piano bar. One regular tunes in the repertoire was Route 66. It was not my favorite song after hearing
it night after night.
When we first explored Route 66, i found out my husband – the musician who know thousands and thousands of songs – had never heard it. It was certainly playing in my head as we rolled down the road.
The electric car museum is super cool.
I know what you mean. I would feel the same about any song that plays over and over again!
I’ve never been, but this is now on the Bucket List. The history of transportation is one of my favorite interests.
I can see you enjoying the experience of rolling down Route 66!
Teaching me about my own country. Didn’t know About that museum. Interesting!
There is so much to see…no one can see or know it all. I am certainly learning a lot from you, so glad I able to find something for you too!
One day we will have to boondock together. In my mind, I think I will hang in Wyoming for July and pop back into Colorado for the first two weeks on August before heading back to Texas. Will you be visiting Denver Daughter or exploring more of the USA around then?
The dust bowl era was a unique and important time in America that actually helped shape the American culture. And I love the first AC car. Very cool. Pun intended. 😆 Lovely trip along the historic route. What fun!
It was and interesting and important time historically and culturally. I wonder how effective that A/C was…
The Route 66 Museum sounds like a fun way to transport yourself back in time. I got a good laugh from the picture of the first ACs for cars. Oh the things we come up with!
In the name of comfort, we will come up with anything 🙂
Love the Chuck Berry song! The Mohave Museum looks interesting, I’m glad to see about the Native American exhibits.
Yes, the Native American exhibit was beautiful, informative, tasteful, and respectful.