Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant
National Register of Historic Places

Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant

Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona
Listed
May 13, 1986
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
86001137

About this property

Desert Power & Water Co. Electric Power Plant is located at 120 Andy Devine Avenue in Kingman, Arizona. The building was built in 1907–08 with additions in the following years 1909 through 1911. Tracy Engineering Company was the architect and McCafe Contracting Company of Los Angeles was the contractor. The oil-fired plant was considered one of the largest steam electric power plants in the Western United States. It had a powerhouse, transformer house and office for Desert Power and Water. It operated until 1938; Hoover Dam took over the power supply. The building was vacant for some time, then used as a salvage yard. In 1984, two local woman (Lilia Bumbullis & Cynthia McCafferty) got together and formed a group known as "The Powerhouse Gang." The group began a fund-raising pitch: “Join the Powerhouse Gang – Electrify Kingman”. In 1997, the building was open to the public as the "Powerhouse Visitor Center” and housed an Arizona Visitor Information Center, the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona Gift Shop, and Memory Lane 50's Diner (closed in 2003). A front-page article in The Kingman Daily Miner (local paper) on October 22, 1997, wrote that “…the building officially begins its new life as a visitor center designed to generate tourism energy”. The building belongs to the City of Kingman and is the home of the Kingman Tourism Office and Visitor Center, the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and the "Arizona Route 66 Museum". The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 1986.

Location

Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona
35.18900, -114.05900

Categories

INDUSTRYECONOMICS
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

AT & SF Locomotive
Industrial
0.1 mi
Mohave County Hospital
Industrial
0.1 mi
Tyrell House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Gymnasium
Industrial
0.2 mi
Dennis, Foster S., House
Industrial
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Hualapai War — Beale Springs Fight (1866)
1866Indian Wars
9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant listed on the National Register?

Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1986.

What type of historic resource is Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant?

Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant?

The period of significance for Desert Power & Water Co., Electric Power Plant is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1907.

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