Editing Tombstone, Arizona (section)

==Tourism==
[[File:Saloon girls on Allen Street.jpg|Saloon ladies on Allen Street in 2006|thumb|left]]

The U.S. census recorded fewer than 1,900 residents in 1890 and fewer than 700 residents in 1900. Tombstone was saved from becoming a [[ghost town]] partly because it remained the Cochise County seat until 1929, when county residents voted to move county offices to nearby [[Bisbee, Arizona|Bisbee]]. The classic Cochise County Courthouse and adjacent gallows yard in Tombstone are preserved as a museum. 
[[File:Covered board sidewalk in Tombstone, Arizona - May 1940.jpg|thumb|Covered board sidewalk on 5th Street, just north of Allen Street, in May 1940: Jack Crabtree's Livery Stable and the San Jose Lodging House can be seen on the left.]]
Town life was rather quiet in the 1930s and 1940s, but the town received renewed interest in the 1950s and 1960s due to portrayals in comics, movies, television, and film.<ref>{{cite web |title=A History of Tombstone, Arizona |url=https://discovertombstone.com/history/ |website=Discover Tombstone |access-date=April 15, 2023}}</ref> Currently, [[tourism]] and western memorabilia are the main commercial enterprises; a July 2005 [[CNN]] article noted that Tombstone receives approximately 450,000 tourist visitors each year. This is about 300 tourists/year for each permanent resident. In contrast to its heyday, when it featured saloons open 24 hours and numerous houses of prostitution, Tombstone is now a staid community with few businesses open late. Tombstone and surrounding areas have a variety of lodging options, restaurants, and attractions. The town is located near other historic sites of interest, including Bisbee and the [[San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area|San Pedro Riparian area]].{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} Tombstone is a short drive away from [[Sierra Vista, Arizona|Sierra Vista]], which is considered the shopping hub of Cochise County.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hess |first=Bill |title=Hobby Lobby celebrates enthusiastic opening |url=http://www.svherald.com/content/bill-hess/2013/09/09/359184 |work=Sierra Vista Herald |publisher=Wick Communications |access-date=September 14, 2013 }}</ref>

East Allen Street is the center of Tombstone's tourist attractions, featuring three blocks of shaded boardwalks lined with gift shops, saloons, and eateries. Allen Street's historic district is closed to motor traffic from 3rd Street, the location of the city park and [[OK Corral]], to 6th Street, where the Bird Cage Theatre is located. Additional sites of interest can be found throughout the city, even out on [[Arizona State Route 80|Highway 80]], where [[Boothill Cemetery]] is found.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eLWao2lIGTEC&pg=PA556 |title=Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, with Listings of Many Prominent People who Were Cremated |first=Thomas E. |last=Spencer |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |year=1998 |page=556 |isbn=978-0806348230}}</ref>

===Performance events===
[[File:Gunfight at the OK Corral 2.jpg|thumb|Re-enactment of the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]]]]
Performance events help preserve the town's Wild West image and expose it to new visitors. The historic O.K. Corral has been preserved, but is now surrounded by a wall. Fremont Street (modern Arizona Highway 80), where portions of the gunfight took place, is open to the public. [[Mannequin]]s are used to depict the location of the participants as recorded by Wyatt Earp. Visitors may pay to see a re-enactment of the gunfight. [[Helldorado Days (Tombstone)|Helldorado Days]], Tombstone's oldest festival,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.helldoradodays.com|title=Helldoradodays.com|access-date=February 12, 2022|archive-date=April 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080425131713/http://www.helldoradodays.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> celebrates the community's wild days of the 1880s.

===Conventions===
On July 29th and July 30th 2023, Tombstone was transformed into "Blackwater", a city from the Western [[Red Dead]] Video Game Series created by [[Rockstar Games]]. The transformation was apart of the "Tombstone Redemption" event which aimed to bring fans of the series together, providing the opportunity to meet the actors from the games, and engage in several events in the town.<ref> [https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/fan-brings-red-dead-redemption-to-tombstone/Content?oid=34422767</ref>

Inside the Oriental Saloon, several actors including [[Rob Wiethoff]] ([[John Marston]]), [[Benjamin Byron Davis]] ([[Dutch van der Linde]], [[Gabriel Sloyer]] (Javier Escuella) signed autographs to hundreds of attendees. 

The event was a success, and spawned another event, instead hosted in Black Hills, South Dakota. A third event is slated to return to Tombstone from October 31st - November 2nd, 2025. 

{{anchor|World's Largest Rosebush}}

===World's largest rosebush===
[[File:World's largest rose bush 2021.jpg|thumb|left|The trunk of the world's largest rosebush]]
According to [[Guinness World Records|Guinness]], the world's largest rosebush was planted in Tombstone in 1885 and still flourishes in the city's sunny climate. The [[Rosa banksiae|Lady Banksia rose]] originated in Scotland. Mary Gee was the wife of mining engineer Henry Gee, who worked for the Vizina Mining Co. Mary's family sent the homesick bride a box of rooted cuttings from her home country. She planted one of the roses by the patio of the Vizina Mining Company's boarding house, the first adobe building in town, located at 4th and Toughnut Streets across from the later site of the railroad depot. Henry and she lived in the boarding house when they first arrived in Tombstone.<ref name=plantguide/><ref name=rosey/>

The building was later renamed the Cochise House Hotel, and from 1909 to 1936, it was known as the Arcade Hotel. By the 1930s, the rosebush had grown to shade the entire patio and became a popular site for tourists. The hotel was later renamed the Rose Tree Inn and then the Rose Tree Inn Museum. The museum curator tells visitors that all Banksia roses growing in the U.S. today are descendants of the Tombstone rose.<ref name=plantguide>{{cite web|title=Lady Banks Rose Rosa banksiae|url=http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/lady-banks-rose.html|access-date=March 26, 2015|archive-date=March 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319140311/http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/lady-banks-rose.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1940, the Lady Banksia rose covered about {{convert|4000|sqft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=Arizona: A State Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=er6V4QzaeyMC&pg=PA249|publisher=North American Book Dist LLC |year= 1940 |page=249|isbn = 978-0403021550}}</ref> {{as of|2014}}, the rosebush covered more than {{convert|8000|sqft|abbr=on}} of the roof and garden trellis of the inn, and has a {{convert|12|ft|abbr=on}} circumference trunk. The rosebush is walled off, and the inn charges admission to view it.<ref name=rosey>{{cite web| url=http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/plants/Rosa.banksiae.Tombstone.cfm |title=Everything is 'Rosey' in Tombstone| publisher=Mediterranean Garden Society |access-date=October 26, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040702100839/http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/plants/Rosa.banksiae.Tombstone.cfm |archive-date = July 2, 2004}}</ref>

A pair of huge rose "trees" of more than {{convert|5|ft|m|abbr=on}} in circumference, also planted in the 1880s, shade a {{convert|2500|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} courtyard at Tombstone's historic [[Sacred Heart Church (Tombstone, Arizona)|Sacred Heart Church]].