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Tombstone: 1940

May 1940. "Shells of old buildings on the main street of Tombstone, Arizona. The near ghost town quality, as well as the reminders of more glamorous and exciting days, attract many tourists." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

May 1940. "Shells of old buildings on the main street of Tombstone, Arizona. The near ghost town quality, as well as the reminders of more glamorous and exciting days, attract many tourists." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Not very energy efficient

I'd be inclined to focus on insulation...like lots of it. Spring can still be cold in Tombstone. And maybe adding double pane windows. I'm also thinking maybe a roof, but that's just eye candy and could be added later. I'm not sayin' any of this is necessary, but it's what I would do.

They turned the town into a tourist trap

Some forward thinking people made firewood out of those old buildings and rebuilt the main street into shops and attractions that would be familiar to any tourist of the desert Southwest. In addition to the new stuff there still exists the OK Corral (famous gunfight in 1881), the opera house, the old Western newspaper (Tombstone Epitaph), Fly's photography shop and Boot Hill.

I haven't been down there in years but they also used to have "the world's oldest/largest rose bush". I saw it back in the 1950s and it was indeed huge!

[The old City Hall has an interesting exhibit of antique barbed wire. But really, keep driving until you get to Bisbee. - Dave]

Brings to mind a grabber real estate blurb

Potemkin village with retro charm, wide-open creative potential!

Popular Attraction

Boot Hill: Everyone was just dying to get in.

Only "near" ghost town quality?

Those Tombstonians have always been slackers. They could have been a Yuma!

The rotting remains Russell Lee photographed are long gone. Here's a good shot of the mountains that match what you can see in his photo. If you grab your partner and swing to your left, you can promenade through the rest of the town and watch a gunfight reenactment. It's good clean entertainment.

Lead poisoning

from all that crumbling paint is likely what many see when viewing a pictue like this, tho of course the town was known for "lead poisoning" of a different sort.

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