 Tombstone
Courthouse
State Historic Park
The park is located
on the corner of Toughnut and 3rd Streets (2 blocks off Highway 80).
 P.O. Pox 216,
219 Toughnut Street,
Tombstone, Arizona 85638
Phone: (520) 457-3311
Tombstone reached
its pinnacle of riches and then faded, all within the short span of
eight years. The West's wildest mining town owes its beginning to Ed
Schieffelin, who prospected the nearby hills in 1877. Friends warned
him that all he would ever find would be his own tombstone. Instead
of an apache bullet, he found silver - ledges of it - and the rush
was on.
Miners soon built a
shantytown on the closest level space to the mines, then known as
Goose Flats. Remembering the grim prophecy given to Schieffelin, and
with tongue in cheek, they changed the name to Tombstone. The year
1881 was an eventful one for the mining camp. The population reached
10,000, rivaling both Tucson (county seat) and Prescott (territorial
capital).
Gunfight
at the OK Corral
The Earp and
Clanton feud culminated in the famous Gunfight
at the OK
Corral. A
disastrous fire burned out much of the infant town, but it was
immediately rebuilt. Schieffelin Hall was erected to provide
legitimate theater and a meeting hall for the Masonic Lodge.
When water began to
seep into the shafts, pumps were installed, but the mines were soon
flooded to the 600-foot level and could not be worked. By 1886,
Tombstone's heyday was over, but not before $37,000,000 worth of
silver had been taken from the mines.
As Tombstone's
population grew, so did its political power. In 1881, the Arizona
Legislature established Cochise
County. No longer would the nearest
county office be a long two-day ride.
Built in 1882 at a
cost of nearly $50,000, the Cochise
County Courthouse was a stylish
building as well as a comfortable symbol of law and stability in
these turbulent times. It housed the offices of the sheriff,
recorder, treasurer, and the board of supervisors. The jail was at
the rear, under the courtroom.
A series of
colorful people held office here. John Slaughter was a local
cattleman who, as sheriff, virtually cleared the county of outlaws.
Some were awkwardly unconventional, such a Deputy Sheriff Burt
Alford, who was experienced on both sides of the law.
Tombstone remained
the county seat until 1929, when outvoted by a growing Bisbee, and
the county seat was moved there. The last county office left the
courthouse in 1931.
Except for an
ill-fated attempt to convert the courthouse into a hotel during the
1940s, the building stood vacant until 1955. When the Tombstone
Restoration Commission acquired it, they began the courthouse
rehabilitation and the development as a historical museum that has
continued to operate as a state park since 1959. It features
exhibits and thousands of artifacts which tell of Tombstone's
colorful past.
The park is open
daily 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except Christmas Day.
Park Facilities:
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