Travel Articles

The opportunities for economic development and for fueling an historic district renaissance presented by the international fascination with Route 66 can not be overstated. Communities such as Pontiac, Illinois that used Route 66 as a catalyst for dramatic...

Counted among the many surprises awaiting discovery in Kingman are the murals and sculptures created by internationally acclaimed artists, and displays of fine art by local artists in galleries on Beale Street. During the National Road Trip Day celebrations in May, 2022, a statue of author, historian and humorist Jim Hinckley created by sculptress J. Anne Butler was unveiled in the Depot Plaza along Route 66 at the historic railroad depot.  

Author, humorist, lecturer and tourism development consultant Jim HInckley, developer of the Kingman, Arizona based Jim Hinckley’s America travel network, opens presentations about the importance of tourism with a simple statement. “Transform a community into a destination for tourists and you make it a destination for people looking for a place to raise a family, to open a business, or to retire.” 
Bill Thomas, the executive director of the Lincoln and Logan County Economic Development Partnership in Illinois, Chairman of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, and commissioner on the Route 66 Centennial Commission is more succinct in describing the importance of tourism. “Not all economic development is tourism but all tourism is economic development.”

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of dramatic transition in the desert southwest. Stagecoaches operated out of Kingman until 1916, and the local Studebaker dealer sold horse drawn wagons and carriages until the early 1920s. Well into the mid-1930s...