Historical Marker · No. 27916
Sacred Heart Church
Tombstone, Cochise County County · Arizona
Erected by The Brophy Family of Arizona And Arizona Historical Society
Tombstone was never only gunfights and gambling halls. In 1881, the Irish-born frontier businesswoman Nellie Cashman, remembered as the "Angel of Tombstone," helped raise an adobe that served as the town's first Catholic church and rectory. Bishop Jean-Baptiste Salpointe dedicated a successor in 1883, and the present church followed in 1945. Cashman fed miners, nursed the sick, and funded churches across the mining West. Sacred Heart stands for the quieter, community-building Tombstone that outlived its violent reputation.
What the plaque says
Sacred Heart Church. In 1881, Nellie Cashman aided in building an adobe structure which served as a combination church and rectory; the first Pastor was Father Emmanuel P. Schneider. Another church was built in 1882 and Bishop John B. Salpointe dedicated it in 1883. The present church was built in 1945.
Where it stands
31.71405, -110.06415 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
More markers nearby
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- Schieffelin Hall — steps away
- Bird Cage Theatre — steps away
- "Buckskin" Frank Leslie & Luke Short — steps away