Editing Kingman, Arizona (section)

==History==
Lt. [[Edward Fitzgerald Beale]], a U.S. Navy officer in the service of the [[United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers|Army Corps of Topographical Engineers]], was ordered by the [[U.S. War Department]] to build a federal wagon road across the [[35th parallel north|35th parallel]]. His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of the use of [[camel]]s as pack animals in the [[Southwestern United States|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 [[U.S. Route 66]] and later [[Interstate 40]]. Remnants of the wagon road can still be seen in White Cliffs Canyon in Kingman.

Kingman was founded in 1882 before statehood, in [[Arizona Territory]]. Situated in the Hualapai Valley between the [[Cerbat Mountains|Cerbat]] and [[Hualapai Mountains|Hualapai]] mountain ranges, Kingman had its modest beginnings as a simple [[railroad siding]] near Beale Springs. Civil engineer Lewis Kingman supervised the building of the railroad from [[Winslow, Arizona|Winslow]] to Beale Springs. This spring had been used by Native Americans living in the area for centuries.

The Mohave County seat was originally located in [[Mohave City, Arizona|Mohave City]] from 1864 to 1867. In 1865, the portion of Arizona Territory west of the [[Colorado River]] was transferred to [[Nevada]] after Nevada's statehood, and became part of [[Lincoln County, Nevada|Lincoln County]], now [[Clark County, Nevada]]. The remaining territory of [[Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory|Pah-Ute County]] became part of Mohave County. Its seat was moved to [[Hardyville, Arizona|Hardyville]] (now within [[Bullhead City, Arizona|Bullhead City]]) in 1867. The county seat transferred to the mining town of [[Cerbat, Arizona|Cerbat]] in 1873, then to [[Mineral Park, Arizona|Mineral Park]] near [[Chloride, Arizona|Chloride]]. After some time, the county seat and all instruments were permanently moved to Kingman in 1887.

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 the war 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Following the war, the Kingman Airfield was one of the largest 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]],<ref>{{citation |last= Zoellner |first= Tom |date= June 28, 1998 |title= Polygamy: Throughout its history, Colorado City has been home for those who believe in virtues of plural marriage |newspaper= [[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |page= J1 |id= Archive Article ID: 100F28A4D3D36BEC ([[NewsBank]]) |url= http://www.sltrib.com/1998/jun/06281998/sunday_a/sunday_a.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000505002302/http://www.sltrib.com/1998/jun/06281998/sunday_a/sunday_a.htm |archive-date= May 5, 2000 }}</ref> which was at the time one of the largest arrests in American history.<ref>C.R. Waters, ''Mohave Miner'', August 30, 1953.</ref> In 1955, Ford Motor Company established a [[Ford Proving Grounds#Arizona Proving Ground (APG) - Yucca, Arizona|proving ground]] (now one of the [[Chrysler Proving Grounds#Arizona Proving Ground (Yucca, Arizona)|Chrysler Proving Grounds]]) in nearby [[Yucca, Arizona|Yucca]] 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. Likewise, the development of the [[Mineral Park mine]] near adjacent [[Chloride, Arizona|Chloride]], and construction of the [[Mohave Generating Station]] in nearby [[Laughlin, Nevada]], in 1971 contributed to Kingman's population growth. Also, the location of a [[General Cable]] plant at the Kingman Airport Industrial Park provided steady employment.

===Kingman explosion===
{{Main|Kingman explosion}}
The Kingman Explosion, also known as the Doxol Disaster or Kingman BLEVE, was a catastrophic [[boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion]] (BLEVE) that occurred on July 5, 1973, during a [[propane]] transfer from a Doxol railroad car to a storage tank on the Getz rail siding near Andy Devine Avenue/Route 66.

Firefighters Memorial Park in Kingman is dedicated to the 11 firefighters who died in the blaze.

===1980s and on===
The [[Mohave County Courthouse and Jail|1915-built Mohave County Courthouse and 1909-built Jail]] were listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1983. The downtown and other areas of Kingman were evaluated for historic resources in a 1985 study, the Kingman Multiple Resources Area study. The study identified 63 historic resources in Kingman and led to many of them being listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1986.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75608741 |publisher=[[NARA]] |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Historic Resources of Kingman, Arizona / Kingman Multiple Resources Area |author=Cindy L. Myers |author2=James W. Garrison |date=June 1985 |access-date=February 5, 2023}} PDF also available at [https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/64000044_text NPS version].</ref> The county courthouse and jail, a 1928-built locomotive (the [[Santa Fe 3759]]), a [[Kingman Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School Radio Tower|World War II gunnery school radio tower]], and about 50 various houses and other buildings in Kingman are listed on the National Register, comprising the majority of [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Mohave County, Arizona|National Register listings in Mohave County]].