Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone is a city located in Cochise County, Arizona, founded in 1879. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,504, a decline from its early years when its population was larger than San Francisco.

Tourism

Currently tourism and western memorabilia are the main commercial enterprises; a July 2005 CNN article notes that Tombstone gets approximately 450,000 tourist visitors each year.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The town's focus on tourism has threatened the town's designation as a National Historic District, a designation it earned in 1961 as "one of the best preserved specimens of the rugged frontier town of the 1870s and '80s." In 2004, the National Park Service (NPS) declared the designation threatened, seeking to work with the community to develop an appropriate stewardship program. The inappropriate alternations to the district cited by the NPS include:

Related Topics:
National Historic District - 1961 - Frontier - 1870s - National Park Service - Stewardship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Placing “historic” dates on new buildings
• Failing to distinguish new construction from historic structures
• Covering authentic historic elevations with inappropriate materials
• Replacing historic features instead of repairing them
• Replacing missing historic features with conjectural and unsubstantiated materials
• Building incompatible additions to existing historic structures and new incompatible buildings within the historic district
• Using illuminated signage, including blinking lights surrounding historic signs
• Installing hitching rails and Spanish tile-covered store porches when such architectural features never existed within Tombstone

Also, the dirt roads of the city have been paved, which many perceive as a violation of the town's historic status.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~