Tombstone Museums

  Tombstone survives on tourism so there are plenty of souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, and RV parks. Stage shows and shootouts, tours of all descriptions, and eight small museums provide entertainment. Prices for the shows and museums range between $5.00 and $20.00 with a few that are free. We chose a sampling of everything and went to the O.K. Corral gunfight, the Epitaph Museum, the Courthouse State Park Museum, and the Bird Cage Theater Museum.

The Epitaph Museum has old printing equipment on display plus story boards about the adventure filled life of  John P. Clum, the founder of the Epitaph newspaper. The museum is free and if you go to the O.K. Corral gunfight you’ll receive a coupon for a free historic issue of the paper. The museum is accessible.

  The Courthouse museum has two floors of exhibits about Tombstone, Native Americans and silver mining. The second floor is not accessible although a book of photos is available on request.  Admission is only $5.00 but without access to the second floor or the courtyard it’s not worth the price.

         

The Bird Cage, which opened in 1882, was in continuous operation, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for eight years. A combination theater, saloon, gambling parlor and brothel, it was considered “the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast”. The coolest thing about it is that when the doors closed in 1889 nobody touched it until 1934 when the new owners established the museum so it’s essentially a time capsule with the original bar, furniture, paintings and even stacks of junk in the storage area. The main floor is accessible. The stage is accessed by steps and is not accessible. The basement is accessed by leaving the building and entering again at the gift shop. Several period lodging rooms have viewing windows that are too high for visitors using wheelchairs.

   The town of Tombstone itself is almost level. The boardwalk sidewalks and ramps are in very good condition. Most of the entrances to the shops, bars, and restaurants are level with the boardwalk.

   RV parking is on South 6th Street. It’s a gravel lot and downhill from the main street. Most of the other lots are marked “ No RV Parking”.  We found a parking space on one of the side streets but this will probably not be possible during busy times.

Attractions   RV Parking Lot - 31.71082, -110.06506