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.

[3] 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.

Following 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.

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.

The Tombstone courthouse represents a practical solution to the problem of securing lives and property in unorganized or poorly governed territory.

It was put into effect quickly, without fumbling by men practiced in the process through their experience in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, where mining rushes had carried them in the past.

When the Tombstone Restoration Commission acquired it, they began the courthouse rehabilitation and the development as a historical museum that has continued to operate as a state park since 1959.

The building is a well-integrated, stylish, yet sober and restrained culmination of that tradition When Maricopa County built its courthouse a few years later, they cribbed liberally from Tombstone's example.

A one-story cupola or observation tower with a mansard roof wears a lacy gingerbread cresting that creates a kind of "widow's walk" atop all.