"The town too tough to die"

Town History

Founded in 1877 by Edward Schieffelin.

 On October 26, three men were murdered and two seriously wounded in a street gunfight known throughout the world today as, "The Gunfight at the OK Corral."

 It is not generally known, or remembered, that for a short time in the 1880's Tombstone was the largest community from Texas to San Francisco, California.

 It sprang up in an Arizona area known as Goose Flats when prospector Edward Schieffelin discovered rich veins of Silver in 1877. Schieffelin named his first mining claim "The Tombstone," after being told by soldiers that the only thing he would find in those hills was Apache Indians and his own Tombstone.

 Ed’s rich Silver discovery brought people from all over the globe to seek wealth, adventure, opportunity and few rules. By the early 1880's Tombstone was booming with nearly 10,000 people from all walks of life. There were of course miners seeking fortune, Saloons and brothels sprang up, the gambling industry was booming, you could even buy the latest in Paris fashions.

 But everything changed in the late 1880's and early 1890's, when the big profitable mines were flooded with water and the extraction of the Silver became nearly impossible. Huge water pumps were installed in some of the mines, but to no avail. With the high cost of retrieving this precious metal, mixed with its decline in market price, the early 1900's saw the end of the great silver boom and eventually the town of Tombstone.

 But in Tombstone’s short life as a boom town, legends, stories and myths of the old Wild West were born, and with them came the great turning point of our true American history.

 Today, the town of Tombstone survives solely off of it’s historical past and tourism. Less than 2,000 people today call Tombstone home. Yes, there is still rich veins of Silver to be mined, but until Silver prices reach around $11.00 an once, reality tells us that it would not be probable or profitable to open the mines back up.

Today, Silver prices are very steady around $5.00 an once, so it might be a while.

 If you’re ever traveling through the Great Amercian Southwest, due stop by "The Town too Tough to Die,"

 Tell them "Ike" sent ya!

This is a picture of the Tombstone City Hall on Fremont street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. This is an original Tombstone building, erected in 1882 and still in use today!
 
 

The Schieffelin Hall is an architectural wonder of the 1880's. Named after Tombstone founder Edward Schieffelin, this original Tombstone building is the largest Adobe building in the American Southwest, built in 1881.

Head On Back To The Town Map