Oatman now has only 150 residents and is barely four blocks long, but its Old West charm coupled with a laid-back attitude is attracting about 500,000 visitors a year. The town, founded about 1906, is hidden in the harsh desert of the Black Mountains about 28 miles from Kingman along Route 66. The locals, some of them virtual historians when it comes to the town's past, like to point out that long before Interstate 40 there was Route 66, and even before that there was Oatman with its gold pouring out of the surrounding mountains. At its height in the late 1920s, Oatman had about 10,000 residents, mostly miners. It also had modern conveniences, such as a swimming pool, service stations and a hospital.
Oatman locals claim the town had the first movie theater in the state.
They also brag that in 1939, Hollywood's Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night here. Oatman declined after I-40 was built in 1951 and at one point the residents were as few as 25. It looked like the town would die. The mining community re-emerged as a tourist destination after How the West Was Won was filmed here in 1962. During the winter season from October to April more than 1,000 weekend tourists watch staged gunfights along main street.