Rose Tree Museum Just a few blocks from the OK Corral, there’s a place where Tombstone transitions from g uns to roses. Located at the corner of Fourth and Toughnut streets, the Rose T r e e Mu s eu m i s home to t he world’s largest rosebush, representing a departure from the legendary gunfights, brothels and sa loons t hat def i ne t he tow n’s history. This magnificent bush — a White Lady Banksia Rose — branches more than 9,000 square feet and is supported by a trellised roof and sturdy beams. Its massive trunk is 12 feet in diameter and its branches cover one square block as they sprawl overhead, filling the museum’s courtyard. The building that houses the rose tree was built by the Vizina Mining Company and is one of the first adobe structures built in Tombstone. When the Vizina mine closed, the property was sold and became a small hotel. In the 1930s the tree was listed in Robert Ripley’s Believe it or Not column as the “world’s largest rose tree” after Ripley visited Tombstone. Articles about the tree started appearing in newspapers all over the country. Today, it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, where the “world’s largest rose tree” claim has never been disputed. The rose tree’s history begins in 1884 when a young bride named Mary Gee came to Tombstone from Scotland with her mining engineer
husband. The couple stayed at the Vizina Mining Company boarding house while they waited for their home to be built. Gee was so homesick for Scotland that her family sent her a box of shrub shoots from home, including cuttings from the Lady Banksia Rose. In 1885, she planted a shoot in the patio of the boarding house where she and her husband had stayed, now the Rose Tree Museum.
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The bush f lourished into a massive tree, which 132 years later, continues to thrive and grow. Its fragrant white blooms fill the museum’s patio for about six weeks of the year, typically starting in April and blooming through Easter. T he t re e h a s b ec ome one of Tombstone’s star attractions, with hundreds of visitors drawn to the museum every year. Located at 118 South Fourth St.,
the Rose Tree Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during blooming season, which starts late March and extends into early May. When the roses are not in bloom, hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with the exception of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Hours may be subject to change, so call 52 0 - 4 57-3 32 6 to con firm dates and times, or visit www. tombstonerosetree.com.
the town too tough to die We invite you to walk the streets Where these and other legendary men and women of the american west walked throughout the years. Come absorb the experience and history that is unique to
Can be traced on every road, on every wooden boardwalk. There’s nothing dry and merely old about tombstone’s past. It’s alive and active and delightful, the town and the spirit of its activities. With a mild year-round climate, any time is the right time to visit TOMBSTONE!
www.tombstonechamber.com
MARCH 2019 • HERALD/REVIEW
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TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA! Step back into the old west for a few days or even weeks. It is an encounter with history that you and your family can only get in the town too tough to die.
Tombstone History