Wish You Were Here

Kingman's Wish You Were Here mural turns the town into one of those big-letter linen postcards travelers mailed home in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Designed by artist JC Amberlyn through the Powerhouse Visitor Center and a workforce program, it was painted by four young local artists learning the trade under her. The landmarks tucked into the letters are Kingman's own, the El Trovatore Motel's tower and the old Hotel Beale among them. It is a postcard of a town that has made a living selling its own passing era.

What the plaque says

The "Wish You Were Here" mural was designed by artist JC Amberlyn in cooperation with the Powerhouse Visitor Center as a partnership with Arizona@Work Mohave County. It was completed by four young local artists working under Amberlyn's guidance., The mural was designed to mimic large letter linen postcards that were popular in the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Scenic wonders and local landmarks selected for inclusion include the El Trovatore Motel and Hotel Beale.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kingman — 0.3 mi
  The working hub of Route 66 in Arizona — a railroad town named for a surveyor, Andy Devine's hometown, and the last real stop before the road's two wildest endings.
• Oatman — 22 mi
  A gold camp in the Black Mountains that outlived its mines, now run by wild burros — reached by the wildest switchbacks left on Route 66, and named for a history worth telling straight.
• Hackberry General Store — 23 mi
  Looks like a junkyard, is a shrine — the 1934 store an artist brought back from the dead, and the Route 66 stop that inspired Fillmore in Cars.

More markers nearby

• Powerhouse — steps away
• Santa Fe Locomotive No. 3759 — steps away
• Locomotive Park — steps away
• Wagon Route — steps away