Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park

History

Following the 1877 discovery of silver ore by prospector Ed Schieffelin in southeastern Arizona, the town of Tombstone was founded and grew rapidly as miners flooded the area in the hope of finding their fortunes. The town of Tombstone was incorporated in 1879. By 1881 the town had grown to more than 7,000 population; stage robberies were no longer novel events. But more important than the lawlessness, Tombstone miners and merchants had to travel 150 dusty roundtrip miles to Tucson to record mining claims, deeds, contracts, etc. at the Pima County Courthouse. At the time, the area was part of Pima County with the county seat Tucson being a rugged two-day, 70-mile journey away. In 1881, as a result of these incentives, and aided by a shrewd agreement with the Prescott delegation to the Territorial Legislature, the residents of the thriving boomtown voted to separate from Pima County and the territorial legislature subsequently formed a new county, Cochise County. Cochise county was formed in 1881 from the eastern part of Pima County, and Tombstone became its seat (The Territorial Capital stayed at Prescott rather than moving to Tucson).

A new courthouse was built the following year and housed all of the county's offices. The Sheriff of Cochise County had his office on the ground floor, first door to the right, when the new courthouse was built in 1882. Sheriff John Behan and his successors gradually instilled the idea that the proper arena for conflict was the courtroom upstairs rather than the street. Except for the Earp–Clanton feud, which gave Tombstone an extremely bad press from which it has no interest in recovering, citizens gladly accepted the proffered alternative. The Tombstone courthouse represents a practical solution to the problem of securing lives and property in unorganized or poorly governed territory. It was put into effect quickly, without fumbling by men practiced in the process through their experience in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, where mining rushes had carried them in the past.

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.