The Old Trails Garage dates to 1915. It was built by J.W. Thompson for M.G. Wagner who had operated the original Old Trails Garage on South Front Street, now Topeka Street. At the time this was the course followed by the National Old Trails Road. This is one of the...
Route 66 centennial
The VIP Treatment
The 19th century courthouse in Pontiac, Illinois is an architectural gem. Casting long shadows across the square is a towering monument to honor Civil War veterans of Livingston County. Mayor Rathbun and President Theodore Roosevelt officiated at the dedication...
The Phoenix – Part Two
Like it or not, times change. Between 1930 and 1950, just like with Route 66, Kingman changed rather dramatically. And the Kingman of 1966 was not the Kingman of 1950, 1980, or 2000. With the city council giving the green light to the implementation of the Downtown Infrastructure Design Project on May 16, the historic heart of the city will experience the most dynamic transformation since the Route 66 bypass.
Defacing Books For Fun and Profit
With two simple tweets author and librarian Chelsea Banning summed up the life of anyone crazy enough to try and make a living as a writer. “I have my first author signing at a local bookstore today!” Then later that evening she lamented to fans. "Only 2 people came...
Telling People Where to Go And Sharing America’s Story
An article published by the Las Vegas Review Journal in 2010 detailed a discovery that confirmed a local Kingman, Arizona urban legend was in fact true. Quote, “That bodies are buried under a high school football field and adjacent parking lot is more than folklore....
Gunfighters, Folk Artists, and Trains
Pontaic, Illinois harnessed Waldmire’s popularity in the Route 66 and folk art community as an integral component in the development of tourism that literally transformed the town into a destination. Kingman, Arizona has an an orignal Bob Waldmire mural, and a display of his orignal work, at TNT Engineering, orignally a Ford dealership built along Route 66 in the 1960s.
Waldmire’s work isn’t recognized or promoted in the Kingman’s official tourism marketing. An innovative narrated self guided historic district walking tour developed by Kingman Main Street finally put the mural and other public art displays in the spotlight. But a year after its introudction the walking tour still hasn’t been included in the city’s tourism marketing initiatives.
Not An Ordinary Joe
One of the first discoveries made in my quest for answers was this article published in the Tombstone Epitaph on July 7, 1928. "TOURIST HOTEL CHANGES HANDS HERE LAST WEEK - Joe Hood Is New Owner of Well Known Hotel Here; Will Repair Building. The Tourist Hotel, for...