Listen close. Do you hear that sound carried on gentle sage scented desert winds?
That, my friend, is the sound of opportunity knocking. Beale Celebrations located at the corner of Fourth and Beale Streets in the historic heart of the Kingman, Arizona business district is ideally located to serve as a venue for conferences, events, weddings, or conventions.
Just one block north of iconic Route 66, Beale Celebrations is located within walking distance of a variety restaurants, microbreweries, and wine bars. Major motels, some of which offer shuttle service, are conveniently located within a five mile radius. And for something a bit closer, there are an an array of Airbnb locations in the immediate area. Cowboy Kitsch, a full two bedroom apartment, is mere steps to the north.
Kingman has a rich and colorful history that is awaiting discovery with a Kingman Tourism walking tour led by internationally acclaimed author and historian Jim Hinckley. Especially popular is the neon night tour that takes clients back in time on a stroll along Andy Devine Avenue, Route 66.
Kingman was established as a railroad construction camp in 1881. The history here, however, predates this by centuries. The Cerbat clan of the Hualapai people depended heavily on the springs in nearby mountains. A Native America trade route connected the Hopi villages with tribes on the coast of present day California. That trade route would be followed by the expedition of Father Garces in 1776, and the now famous camel caravan of Lt. Beale in the 1850’s. Beale established the Beale Wagon Road, and the railroad followed his path west. Next was the National Old Trails Road, and then Route 66.
Edsel Ford, son of the legendary automaker Henry Ford and namesake for a car that an automotive writer in 1958 described as a Buick sucking a lemon, stayed in Kingman on July 15, 1915. It was a stop on his adventure with college buddies to California along the National Old Trails Road.
Ford was not the only celebrity to make a stop in Kingman. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard were married at the Methodist Episcopal church on Spring Street in 1939. Buster Keaton, the legendary silent movie era comedian, stayed at the Beale Hotel while filming Go West at Tap Duncan’s Diamond Bar Ranch north of Kingman. Charles Lindbergh and his wife were frequent guests at the hotel in the late 1920’s as Kingman was a stop for the aviators pioneering TAT Airlines.
Pamela Anderson had an encounter with local police in Kingman during the filming of a photo shoot for Playboy magazine. Several major motion pictures were filmed in Kingman and the surrounding area during the 1950’s, and again in the 1980’s.
In 2014, the city hosted the International Route 66 Festival with a theme of Kingman: Crossroads of the Past & Future, a fitting theme as the world’s only electric vehicle museum opened during the event. For those looking for a great location to host a conference or small convention, Kingman is still the crossroads of the past and future. If you need a venue for any major or special event, Beale Celebrations is all you need.
Written by Jim Hinckley of Jim Hinckley’s America