Lupton – Houck – Sanders – Chambers – Petrified Forest / Painted Desert – Holbrook – Joseph City – Winslow – Meteor City – Meteor Crater – Winona – Flagstaff – Bellemont – Williams – Ash Fork – Seligman – Grand Canyon Caverns – Peach Springs – Truxton – Crozier – Valentine – Hackberry – Antares – Kingman – Golden Valley – Oatman – Golden Shores – Topock
Tap above to listen to an audio narration of this station’s content.
Community Center – Original Fire House – Jail
The Community Center building is now “Native Touch”. It seems that this building was moved from the airport in Kingman to the Davis Dam project while the dam was under construction and used as an Army Corp of Engineers office and then brought to Oatman when the dam was completed in about 1951. When Mohave County moved it to Oatman the building was meant to always be a community center. Part of the community center was a county Library and there were public restrooms. Eventually Mohave County made a decision not to fund the maintenance of the building any longer and it was sold.
Oatman Fire District is one of the oldest in the area, created in 1916 and initially funded by the Oatman Chamber of Commerce, which was also formed that year. The building to the right of Native Touch was once the fire station and is noted to be an “original” or “historic” building. The fire bell, purchased in 1917, is now at a private residence and also a former firehouse, next to the Little White Church (Past and behind the Schoolhouse with the covered bridge). In more recent history there was a system of call boxes throughout town to call for the fire department. Later telephones were installed making things more efficient with calls to more precise locations.. This building is now is “Jenny & Jack’s ARTifacts. (photo of antique trucks by Robert Dickinson)
The current Oatman Jail building is behind these two buildings (Native Touch & a former Fire House) and is currently a museum and gift shop. It was constructed in 1936 by Mohave County. Today the inmates are some tortoises as well as a few ghosts.
“OATMAN SCAVENGER HUNT” – Take a photo of yourself in front of any of the spots mentioned in this tour (or what is currently standing there), and email them to tailingsoftime@gmail.com and we will post them on our sites. Thank you for visiting and learning about our town.
***The “Historic Oatman Walking Tour” was created for the town of Oatman, by Rob Borden, founder of the Saddle Sore Ranch (aka “SSR”), and commissioned by the Oatman Gold Road Chamber. Content contributions were made by the Oatman Chamber of Commerce, Oatman Tailings Of Time Historical Society, Leanne Toohey, Oatman residents and other historic contributors. The Saddle Sore Ranch is located just 12 miles east of Oatman, at milepost 36.5 on Historic Route 66. For more information, visit us online at www.SaddleSoreRanch.com, or email us at LiveFromSSR@gmail.com ***