Kingman, Arizona

Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a U.S. Navy officer in the service of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was ordered by the U.S. War Department to build a federal wagon road across the 35th Parallel. His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of the use of camels as pack animals in the southwestern desert. Beale traveled through the present day Kingman in 1857 surveying the road and in 1859 to build the road. Beale's Wagon Road became part of Highway 66 and Interstate Highway 40. Remnants of the wagon road can still be seen in White Cliffs Canyon in Kingman.

Kingman, Arizona, was founded in 1882, when Arizona was still Arizona Territory. Situated in the Hualapai Valley between the Cerbat and Hualapai mountain ranges, Kingman is known for its very modest beginnings as a simple railroad siding near Beale's Springs in the Middleton Section along the newly constructed route of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The city of Kingman was named for Lewis Kingman, who surveyed along the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad's right-of-way between Needles, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M. Lewis Kingman supervised the building of the railroad from Winslow, Ariz. to Beale's Springs, which is near the present location of the town of Kingman.

The Mohave County seat originally was located in Mohave City from 1864 to 1867. The portion of Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River was transferred to Nevada in 1865 after Nevada's statehood, and became part of Lincoln County, Nevada later Clark County, Nevada. The remaining territory of Pah-Ute County became part of Mohave County. Its seat was moved to Hardyville (which is now within Bullhead City) in 1867. The county seat transferred to the mining town of Cerbat in 1873, then to Mineral Park near Chloride in 1877. In 1887, the county seat was moved to Kingman after some period of time without a permanent county seat, the instruments and records of Mohave County government were taken clandestinely from Chloride and moved to Kingman in the middle of the night during this final transfer of the county seat.

During World War II, Kingman was the site of a U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) airfield. The Kingman Army Airfield was founded at the beginning of WW II as an aerial gunnery training base. It became one of the USAAF's largest, training some 35,000 soldiers and airmen. The airfield and Kingman played a significant role in this important era of America's history. Following the war, the Kingman Airfield served as one of the largest and best-known reclamation sites for obsolete military aircraft.

Postwar, Kingman experienced growth as several major employers moved into the vicinity. In 1953 Kingman was used to detain those men accused of practicing polygamy in the Short Creek raid,[6] which was at the time one of the largest arrests in American history.[7] In 1955, Ford Motor Company established a proving ground (now one of the Chrysler Proving Grounds) in nearby Yucca, Arizona at the former Yucca Army Airfield. Several major new neighborhoods in Kingman were developed to house the skilled workers and professionals employed at the proving ground, as Kingman was the only sizable, developed town within a convenient distance. Likewise, the development of the Mineral Park mine near adjacent Chloride, Arizona, and construction of the Mohave Generating Station in nearby Laughlin, Nevada, in 1971 contributed to Kingman's population growth. The location of a General Cable plant at what was to become the Kingman Airport Industrial Park provided a steady employment base as well.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.0 square miles (78 km²), all land.

The city is divided into two different agglomerations; the north side, which is home to most businesses and where most of the population lives, and the older south side which contains most government buildings and a minority of the city’s residents. The two halves are separated by a ridge of the Cerbat Mountains.

Kingman sits on the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert, but it is located in a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) due to its plateau location. The BSk climate type receives slightly more precipitation than the BWh hot desert climate found to the south and west, and the wintertime low temperatures are significantly colder.[8] Kingman's higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley keeps summer high temperatures away from the extremes (115 °F (46 °C) or more) experienced by Phoenix and the Colorado River Valley. The higher elevation also contributes to winter cold and occasional snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F (32 °C) frequently, but rarely exceed 107 °F (42 °C). Summertime lows usually remain between 60 to 70 °F (16 to 21 °C). Winter highs are generally mild, ranging from around 50 to 60 °F (10 to 16 °C), but winter nighttime lows often fall to freezing, with significantly lower temperatures possible. Kingman occasionally receives a dusting of snow in the winter, though it rarely remains on the ground for longer than mid-to-late morning.

The record low temperature in Kingman was set on January 9, 1937 at 6 °F (−14 °C), and the record high temperature occurred on June 20, 2017, at 113 °F (45 °C). The wettest year was 1919 with 21.22 inches (539 mm) and the driest year was 1947 with 3.58 inches (91 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 9.85 inches (250 mm) in September 1939. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 6.03 inches (153 mm) on November 28, 1919. The snowiest year was 1949 with 18.2 inches (0.46 m). The most snowfall in one month was 14.0 inches (0.36 m) in December 1932.[9][10] On December 31, 2014 and January 1, 2015, Kingman received 6.5 inches of snow. The storm was so significant that it was a contributing factor for closing Interstate 40 at the US 93 Junction for 24 hours.

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,069 people in all with 7,854 households, and 5,427 families residing in the city. The population density was 669.7 people per square mile (258.5/km²). There were 8,604 housing units at an average density of 287.1 per square mile (110.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 88% white, 0.04% Black or African American, 1% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 3.41% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. 12.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,854 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,086, and the median income for a family was $41,327. Males had a median income of $32,036 versus $21,134 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,181. About 8.2% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Kingman's city administration consists of the Mayor, Vice-mayor, the City Council, and the City Manager. The current Mayor and Vice-mayor are Jen Miles[13] and Travis Lingenfelter.[14] The City Council consists of 5 elected officials - Sue Ann Mello Keener, Jamie Scott Stehly, Deana Nelson, David Wayt, and Ken Watkins. The City Manager is Ron Foggin. The City Attorney is Carl Cooper.[15]

The city government also includes boards and commissions that assist the City Council in decision making. They are the:

• Clean City Commission
• Economic Development & Marketing Commission
• Golf Course Advisory Commission
• Historical Preservation Commission
• Municipal Utilities Commission
• Parks and Recreations Commission
• Planning and Zoning Commission
• Transit Advisory Commission
• Tourism Development Commission
• Youth Advisory Commission
• Tri-City Council

Arizona State Prison – Kingman, a privately run prison of the Arizona Department of Corrections, is located in unincorporated Mohave County, Arizona, near Kingman.[16][17]

The United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management has a field office located in Kingman.

Kingman has one public school district, one charter school district, and one Christian school. All primary education is split between the public and charter school districts: Kingman Unified School District and Kingman Academy of Learning.

Motels along Andy Devine Avenue in Kingman in 2004

• Andy Devine (1905–1977), actor, was raised in Kingman, where his father opened the Beale Hotel. One of the major streets of Kingman is named "Andy Devine Avenue" and the town holds the annual "Andy Devine Days".
• Michael Fortier, Timothy McVeigh's co-conspirator, lived in Kingman from the age of seven.
• Miki Garcia, model and Playboy magazine's Playmate for the January 1973 issue, was born in Kingman.
• Doris Hill (March 21, 1905 – March 3, 1976), born Roberta M. Hill, was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s.
• Paul Kalanithi (1977–2015), neurosurgeon and writer, was raised in Kingman.
• Timothy McVeigh (1968–2001) was a resident of Kingman for various periods between 1993 and 1995, he took most part in the Oklahoma City bombing.
• Doug Mirabelli, former Boston Red Sox catcher, was born in Kingman.
• Aron Ra, atheist activist, regional director of American Atheists, and public speaker born in Kingman.
• Tarik Skubal, MLB pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.
• Karen Steele, actress, lived and died in Kingman.

• Hualapai Mountain Recreation Area
• Kingman is well known for its location on Route 66.
• The city is a gateway to the gambling destinations of Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada, as well as the Grand Canyon, California, the Colorado River, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lake Mohave, and Lake Havasu.
• Oatman, Arizona, a nearby "ghost town" tourist attraction.
• Keepers of the Wild, a wild animal sanctuary featuring lions and tigers among other animals.[32][33]
• Kingman is the closest city to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a transparent horseshoe-shaped cantilever bridge and tourist attraction on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
• The Grand Canyon Caverns, one of the largest dry caverns in the United States, is a short drive north and east of Kingman.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kingman, Arizona.

• Kingman travel guide from Wikivoyage
• City of Kingman
• Official website for The Kingman Daily Miner
• History of Medicine in Kingman and Mohave County at the Wayback Machine (archived February 16, 2007)