Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park is a state park of Arizona in the United States. Located in Tombstone, the park preserves the original Cochise County courthouse. The two-story building, constructed in 1882 in the Victorian style, is laid out in the shape of a cross and once contained various county offices, including those of the sheriff, recorder, treasurer, and the Board of Supervisors as well as courtrooms and a jail. Inside, the courthouse contains a museum with numerous artifacts from the town’s history while outside, a replica gallows has been constructed in the courtyard to mark the spot where seven men were hanged for various crimes. The park was one of the first to be designated as a state park and in 1959 was the first to open following the 1957 establishment of the Arizona State Parks Board.HistoryFollowing 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).
