Showing posts with label Helldorado Days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helldorado Days. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Helldorado Days

Yesterday we took a trip to Tombstone, AZ 20 miles south of Benson. In 1929, the town was dying with the playing out of the silver mines and the county seat was about to be moved. The city fathers came up with a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the town to raise awareness of Tombstone. This came to be known as Helldorado days.

Many folks dress in period costume and there are many shops selling period clothing and accessories, including guns. This is one of the rental shops in town and we saw lots of dance hall girls around town.


The famous OK Corral where the Earps and Doc Holiday shot it out with the Clantons and the McLowerys. Gunfights go on all day long here.

The equally famous Birdcage Theatre. Part gambling hall, part bar, and part bordello, it is preserved in its original state with all the original furnishings, complete with numerous bullet holes.


A couple of soiled doves perhaps?


Lots of folks dressed in 1880's clothes.


There were several different coaches available to haul you around town.


There was even a miner.

We had a lot of fun in Tombstone, and we will go back when the town is a little less crowded to visit some of the historic buildings including the inside of the Birdcage.
We continued to head south leaving Tombstone and heading to Bisbee, a major copper mining center with many original and restored buildings. We will go back to Bisbee and take pictures for a future blog post.