I thought I’d be able to finish out my series
about Tombstone late last week,
but it wasn’t coming together;
therefore,
it got pushed to this week.
🙂
So… Today we are heading
back to Tombstone…
In light of our recent presidential election
I thought I’d share this photograph
to kick off the architectural tour
of Tombstone’s beautiful buildings!
There is no particular political message
in this post ~ I wouldn’t do that to you!
I just liked the house and the
Western Federal~style window casings
along with the sweet windmill out in the front garden.
I love the brick facade of this turn-of-the-last-century
home here in Tombstone, Arizona.
It’s really interesting to me that when Tombstone
was first built, the people who moved here either
brought the architectural styles they already
knew and loved with them
or
they built the styles that were popular at the time.
We still do that, don’t we?
🙂
This is the courthouse that I shared before
and you can see the casements around
each window and how detailed they are
especially when compared to today’s
typical aluminum builder~grade windows.
I love that brick, too!
Don’t you?
Look at the egg & dart moulding along the roofline!
Love that!
Plus who puts French fleur de lis and floral swags
on the outer edges of their buildings today?
Just lovely!
I shot this building because of that moulding and because of
the beautiful lace curtains hanging in each of its windows.
Lovely against the crackled, peeling paint
of the casements and the limestone bricks…
sigh…
 |
| You can see some of the false~fronts on these buildings here on Allen Street. |
Most of the homes in Tombstone were board and batten
originally; however, I saw that the homes that remain
are clapboard~style and stucco.
The stucco being much more in line what we use today.
The main historical buildings on Allen and Fremont streets
where businesses are have mostly brick facades
on their front elevations.
“False fronts” were popular then
making a building look more important
{and the second story more square instead of pitch~roofed}
and those can still be seen.
Moving into more of the art and prettiness
of Tombstone…
I shared this cabinet before and its lovely
ironstone in my post
Tombstone ~ The Good, Bad & the Ugly
and I thought I’d get back to my favorite things
from Tombstone.
Beginning with this lovely sugar bowl, below ~
a little crazing in this piece’s glazing
from time and age
don’t detract from this piece.
It is still beautiful.
I loved its simple beauty.
Perhaps it got this way from being lost
in someone’s attic?
Maybe then it was rediscovered and
after the finder’s considerable consideration
the sugar bowl was donated to the
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park
where now it resides
for all to see.
This sugar bowl is a nice example of
ironstone transferware
which became wildly popular and available
to the middle classes as the engraving process
was improved.
The resulting transfer of the inked images
onto a parchment~type paper
were then cut out and hand~rubbed in pieces
onto each china blank.
The china pieces were then fired
(or were first painted with glazing then fired)
producing the transferware used then
and still in production today.
Tea Leaf ironstone is another one of
the china patterns in the display cabinet,
on the very bottom shelf.
According to the
Har-Ber Village
website
gold luster tea leaf ironstone
has been produced since the mid-1800’s.
It began as a very heavy china and was later
produced in lighter~weight pieces.
Kovel’s
of auction house fame
writes that tea leaf is still produced in
gold luster as well as now being made
in a brown leaf.
Since I’m a big fan of tea
it’s interesting to see how many different
china patterns were created just to
celebrate tea!
🙂
Here are some of the Tombstone courthouse’s collection
of silver cakestands, candleholders, and other
fine silver pieces.
This next display is a beautifully embroidered cloth
that a Chinese emigrant owned.
This man, Hop, ran the one and only
Chinese restaurant in
Tombstone
and it had a hopping business
{perhaps where that saying comes from}.
 |
| I darkened this photo and intensified the colors a bit to show how vibrant the embroidery would have been when it was first created. |
The detail in this piece is incredible!
There are many other works of art
in this museum
especially Native American pieces
of pottery and bead work.
The history of the silver mining operations,
the saloons and brothels are told here.
The Earps and the Clantons big gun fight
is also recounted here.
Stories of Apaches Cochise and Nachise
(Cochise’s son)
are also told.
Theirs is a tale of cattle rustling and fights
with the US Army
along the Mexican-Arizona Territory border.
Lastly, I wanted to share this 1890’s satin dress.
Fashion was very important to the ladies of
western towns as this
winter dress shows.
I hope you have enjoyed this historical tour
of the many things which were important to
the people of Tombstone, Arizona.
These people certainly lived out
their town’s motto ~
“The town too tough to die.”
Surviving the area’s harsh climate and
Tombstone’s even rougher ways and hard economy,
Tombstone’s inhabitants worked hard to make
their lives better and more refined.
Please feel free to share this and any of the
other posts I’ve written with your family
and friends.
And do write and let me know
you liked this post!
🙂
Blessings to you,
Barb 🙂
