MPS Kingman MRA Opened 1907 | Built 1907 NRHP Reference # 86001137 Added to NRHP 14 May 1986 | |
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Architect Tracy Engineering Co., McCafe Construction Co. Similar Bonelli House, Mohave County Courthou, Kingman station | ||
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. It operated until 1938; Hoover Dam took over the power supply. The building was vacant for some time, then used as a salvage yard.
Sometime in the 1980s, a couple of local people got together and formed a group known as the "Powerhouse Gang." Their goal was to renovate the old building into something useful. In 1997, the building was open to the public.
The building belongs to the City of Kingman and is the home of Kingman Chamber of Commerce and Kingman Tourism Office and Visitor Center, along with the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and the Route 66 Museum.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.