The Kingman County Historical Museum is housed in the old Kingman City Building.  This building was erected after the City Council faced the problem that special quarters were necessary to conduct the city's business.  After a special election in February of 1888 the construction of a city building was approved and by December 1, 1888 the structure was completed and occupied.
 
The building is a rectangular two-story Renaissance style structure.  The main façade rises some 40 feet above the street with the corner tower soaring nearly 80 foot to its tip.  The exterior walls are of Kingman brick trimmed in native limestone.
 

Looking up the fire hose drying tower

The octagonal tower rests on a cylindrical base and it was used to drain and dry the 50-foot lengths of cotton fire hose.  They were attached to a pulley and raised to the ceiling for draining and drying.  A sump in the floor collected the water and diverted it out of the building.
 
The bell tower projects from the building face on brick corbels.  The portion above the roof is open on all four sides to allow the pealing of the bell to be heard throughout the community.
 
In 1967 the City Council declared the building no longer was adequate and started the progress of moving one block south to another building.  The Kingman County Historical Society was established to help save the old City Building and the historical society eventually purchased the building at 400 N. Main.  The Kingman County Museum had its opening day on Memorial Day weekend of 1970.

Special Displays

There are two fire trucks on display, a 1939 Ford V-8 and a 1932 Peter Pirsch, along with a hand drawn hose cart in the room that originally housed the horses for the Hook and Ladder Fire Department.
 
Other displays consist of period furniture and a large mural painted on the north wall upstairs.  There is also dental and doctor equipment all of which was brought to the county or used by the early settlers.
 
Two Stan Herd murals on the north wall outside depict the flight of the first Cessna airplane and a stagecoach representing the Cannonball Stage line through Kingman County.  There are old parts of early airplanes built by Clyde Cessna, native of Kingman County, as well as pictures of the first planes built and flown by Cessna.
 
A tack room has several saddles, other horse equipment, and articles from three wars, Civil, WWI, and WWII.
 
Marriage and cemetery records, scrapbooks of newspaper events, pictures and family histories are all available for research.