History of the Kingman Railroad Depot

The Kingman Railroad station has had four depots since the first train arrived on March 28, 1883. The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad used a boxcar as the first depot until a proper depot could be built.

​

The second depot was built in 1885 by the Atlantic and Pacific/Santa Fe Railways. This was a two-story wooden building with living space on the second floor for the station manager and his family. This depot burned down on April 28, 1900. It was said that hot cinders from a train's steam locomotive caused the fire.

​

The third depot was build by the Santa Fe Railway and opened its doors in December of 1900. It was a single-story wooden structure and it burned down on June 24, 1906. Again, the fire was said to have been caused by sparks from the smoke stack of a passing steam locomotive.

​

The fourth depot is the current structure and it opened on July 22, 1907. Having lost the two previous depots to fire, the Santa Fe Railway built this depot to be fireproof. The building was constructed of reinforced concrete, including the roof! Then it received a stucco siding.

​

The Kingman depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 1986.

​

By the early 2000's, the depot was in disrepair and unoccupied. With grant funding, restoration began in June of 2010 and was complete in 2011. Amtrak moved into the west end of the building as a crew room and passenger waiting room. The larger portion of the building houses the Kingman Railroad Museum, which opened in 2012.