There Be Ghosts In Them Thar Hills...

Not far from the post-apocalyptic water park was the town of Calico. Now, back in the late 1800's, Calico was simply the place to be.

 

Calico is an old west mining town that has been around since 1881, which was during the largest silver strike in California. With over 500 separate mines, Calico produced over $20 million in silver ore over a 12-year span. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population. The miner's packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. Hence, it became a "ghost town."

 

Walter Knott (of Knott's Berry Farm fame) purchased Calico in the 1950's, and architecturally restored all but five of the original buildings to look as they did in the 1880's. Why did he not restore five of the buildings? Who the Hell knows? What I do know is that Calico received its status as State Historical Landmark 782, and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.

 

We were fortunate enough to be there on a Saturday evening. Most people stop here while either going to or coming from Las Vegas, and those are usually Fridays and Sundays, respectively. Being a Saturday, though, the town wasn't nearly crowded, and parking was plentiful.

 

And, while the term "ghost town" may conjure up images of, well, ghosts, that's not what it denotes at all. What the term means is simply that the town was, in pretty short order, abandoned. That said, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that the town, or at least some of its buildings, are haunted.

 

Enjoy:
 

Welcome to Calico...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





The town has a lot of events which take place throughout the year, and you can expect the the town to fill up with tourists during those weekends. You can find a list of those events here. And, if you're so inclined, this "ghost town" also does, in fact, have a "ghost tour" that takes place after nightfall. Maybe one day I'll get back for that but, until then, I'll be content with what I got to see after my daughter made an impromptu right turn off the interstate ramp...