There's been a lot of talk in recent years about bringing back the long-moribund downtown of Kingman, Arizona, part of which sits on old Route 66. But Swiss investor Werner Fleischmann and a bunch of artists, hipsters and entrepreneurs may actually get it done, reported the Kingman Daily Miner. The downtown renaissance is happening slowly, but … Continue reading Swiss investor, hipsters may bring back Kingman’s downtown
Tag: Kingman
Kingman Club sign restored
The owner of a soon-to-open craft beer and wine bar in downtown Kingman, Arizona, restored the famous Kingman Club neon sign and relighted it during a ceremony Saturday night. The House of Hops, which plans to open by summer, are taking over a tavern that dates to 1944. According to a variety of sources, the … Continue reading Kingman Club sign restored
Interview with “The 66 Kid” author
Artist and western historian Bob Boze Bell was interviewed for about 13 minutes by a PBS television station at Arizona State University about his new biography, “The 66 Kid: Raised on the Mother Road," that deals primarily with his childhood in the Route 66 town of Kingman, Arizona. https://youtu.be/2OfK_nB1SFc?t=12m10s I've embedded the video so it … Continue reading Interview with “The 66 Kid” author
Kingman festival boosts local economy
The town of Kingman, Arizona, saw a sizable increase in revenue because of the International Route 66 Festival in August, according to an article in the Kingman Daily Miner. Here's the breakdown from the July-to-September period: • Nearly 39,000 travelers visited the Powerhouse Visitor Center, a 20 percent increase over the same period in 2013 … Continue reading Kingman festival boosts local economy
Electric vehicle museum opens in Kingman
The exhibit of electric vehicles at the Powerhouse Visitors Center on Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona, during the International Route 66 Festival last month has become a permanent museum to EVs, with more vehicles coming soon. According to a story on EV News Report, the Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation's exhibit was visited by people from … Continue reading Electric vehicle museum opens in Kingman
Interactive map sorts 1935-1945 photos
Starting in 1935, photographers with the New Deal's Farm Security Administration began documenting life in the United States during the Great Depression and, later, World War II. More than 170,000 photos were taken, and a few of them became famous, including Dorothea Lange's now-iconic image of a migrant mother. Although the vast majority of images … Continue reading Interactive map sorts 1935-1945 photos
Book review: “The 66 Kid”
"The 66 Kid" is not your typical memoir. Then again, Bob Boze Bell isn't a typical fellow. Nearly all memoirs consist of a few hundred typewritten pages with a few dozen black-and-white photos crammed into the center. But Boze, best-known as owner of True West magazine and as a western-themed artist, treats his early life story … Continue reading Book review: “The 66 Kid”
“Return to Route 66”
A reader tipped me off about Kingman, Arizona, resident Chris Commisso, who wrote this song and shot the video on the Mother Road in Kingman. https://youtu.be/wL0eWO_19c0 It seems to be a mix of jazz, hip-hop and 1960s lounge. I like it a lot. Commisso has his own YouTube channel here. His official website is here.
How did the Kingman Route 66 festival do?
The answer: Pretty well; thanks for asking. The town of Kingman, Arizona, hosted the annual International Route 66 Festival for the first time last weekend. I've cobbled together some highlights from the event: Estimated attendance, according to the Kingman Daily Miner newspaper, was 6,000, which was in line with forecasts. About 60 percent of festival attendees … Continue reading How did the Kingman Route 66 festival do?
Conferences at Route 66 festival will be streamed live
A series of speeches for a two-day conference called "Route 66 Crossroads of the Past and Future" will be streamed over the Internet live on Friday and Saturday during the International Route 66 Festival in Kingman, Arizona, it was announced Wednesday. The video stream will be on Mohave County's official channel on YouTube. In addition, … Continue reading Conferences at Route 66 festival will be streamed live