While most of Tombstone is a Disney-esque version of the wild west, the Bird Cage Theater is the real thing. Built during the height of Tombstone’s silver rush in 1881, it survived the fires that burned almost everything else to the ground in the early 1880s. When the mines flooded and the miners left, it closed shop and has remained virtually unchanged since 1892.

At its opening, the Bird Cage aimed for a respectable clientele, but that quickly changed. In its mining heyday, Tombstone was home to over 3,500 licensed prostitutes and many of the most expensive worked out of the Bird Cage.

For $25, you could take one of the girls up to a “bird cage” room overlooking the main saloon:

For $40, high-rollers could have one of the more exclusive girls in a private chamber off the gambling room. Today, the rooms still have their original wallpaper and many of the original furnishings and fixtures:

It was down here that Sarah Josephine Marcus (aka “Sadie Jo” and “Shady Sadie”), the woman who became Wyatt Earp’s girlfriend, worked.

The Bird Cage also had the most high-stakes gambling in the area, and the world’s longest poker game was held in its back gambling room. Lasting 8 years, players included Diamond Jim Brady, Doc Holliday, and Wyatt Earp (mannikins and money not original!).

Legend has it that 26 people were killed in the theater during its 11 years in operation, and you can spot over 140 bullet holes in the building:

The building is full of original pieces like these amazing Swedish lithographs:

The original 1881 rosewood piano still sits in front of the stage:

It was in this barber’s chair that Curly Bill was recognized and later killed by Wyatt Earp:

Also on display among thousands of artifacts is the 1881 hearse that was used to transport coffins to Boothill Cemetery:

For another glimpse of genuine Tombstone, pop into the Tombstone Epithaph, Arizona’s oldest working newspaper, founded in 1881 and still published today.

The building houses original equipment, newspapers and photographs, including a depiction of the paper published about the inquest following the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

This photo from the Bird Cage shows newspaper founder John Clum with Wyatt Earp:

Other historic sites include the courthouse, now a museum, the world’s largest rosebush, planted in 1885, and several of the mines. The O.K. Corral is still around, but (contrary to popular belief ) the actual gunfight took place in the streets surrounding it.