Calico – Boomtown to Ghost Town
Visit for the Halloween Festival, Pan for Silver, and Camp
Oct 24, 2009
The rock of King Mountain in California is as colorful as a calico cat. The mountain surrounds the site of a famous 19th century silver strike. The town of Calico was born with the rush. It became a boom town thriving from 1881 to 1896. In those fifteen years, the area extracted millions of dollars worth of silver from 500 mines. With a population of just over 1000 people, it had nearly two dozen saloons. It boasted a Chinatown, gambling houses, brothels in a red-light area, a school house and churches. The town also had its own newspaper, the Calico Print.
By 1907, the Calico Print had published is final edition. The school had closed, and the red-lights were turned off forever. The price of silver had dropped severely and the buildings and mucky wagon tracks were left to the ghosts and nature. And for the next 50 years nature did take over the town, until a man named Walter Knott came along to reclaim it.
Calico as a Thriving Ghost Town
Today, Calico is a ghost town but with live people. It thrives again. But this time, it thrives with tourists. They come to see what life was like in an early mining town, to see a staged gunfight and to try a little panning of their own.
Calico Ghost Town as a Themed Park
Only a small number of the original buildings remain and those have been restored. While the restorers did try to keep the buildings as they would be been in the late 1800's, these restorations took place in the 1950's and purists, they weren't. Some of the buildings were rebuilt entirely. Walter Knott's view of Calico was that of a themed park.
For the tourist interested in the town's true history, the museum alone is worth the visit. It has numerous artifacts found in the area as well as archival records such as newspapers and photographs. Here, the visitor will get a true picture of life in the town as it once was.
Calico Ghost Town at Halloween
There is so much here to enjoy with the whole family. Each Halloween, Calico becomes a ghostly town. It's a busy festival with contests for the best costume, scary story-telling and a visit to Maggie's Mine which is said to be haunted. There are numerous activities and special events throughout the year, however. Visitors can even hold their wedding on the grounds.
Calico is open daily to visitors until 5pm. Nearby, they can camp, rent a cabin or a bunkhouse. Prices range from $20 for tenting to $80 for a six-bed bunkhouse with kitchenette and private washroom with shower. It's a perfect place to bring an RV and they have hook-ups.
For a bit of western history, camp or stay at Calico for a weekend. Perhaps at night visitors will hear the wagons rattling along Main Street, or the music from a saloon. Bring a smile and a little imagination.
Calico is located in Yermo in the Mojave Desert, California, a few miles from the city of Barstow, off Interstate 15.
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