The town too smart to die

Tombstone, Arizona, bills itself as "The town too tough to die." A more accurate slogan would be, "The town too smart to die." Thanks to Hollywood's glorification of the October 1881 shootout at the OK Corral, Tombstone has learned to capitalize on its colorful past. Today the town is a frontier western theme park with stagecoach rides, historic-photo galleries, reenactments of the famous gunfight and dozens of shops that sell western memorabilia. Some of the town's 1,504 residents contribute to the atmosphere by wearing 1880s attire. The promotion brings in 450,000 visitors a year.

It's fun, and many RVers like the live western music in the saloons. Still, Tombstone has become a common tourist trap. In fact, such tasteless practices as placing historic dates on new buildings and renovating old structures with modern materials caused the National Park Service in 2004 to declare the town's designation as a National Historic District threatened.

To its credit, the town is trying to retain its NHD designation. For instance, it has removed the paving from some streets to restore them to their historic unpaved status. And you can't really blame a community for trying to prosper with whatever resources it has.