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Walter Knott and his wife Cordelia, founders of Knott’s Berry Farm, were homesteaded at Newberry Springs around this time, and Knott helped build the redwood cyanide tanks for the plant. In 1951, Knott purchased the town and began restoring it to its original condition referencing old photographs. The discovery of the borate mineral colemanite in the Calico mountains a few years after the settlement of the town also helped Calico’s fortunes, and in 1890 the estimated population of the town was 3,500, with nationals of China, England, Ireland, Greece, France, and the Netherlands, as well as Americans living there. In the same year, the Silver Purchase Act was enacted, and it drove down the price of silver. By 1896, its value had decreased to $0.57 per troy ounce, and Calico’s silver mines were no longer economically viable. The post office was discontinued in 1898, and the school closed not long after. By the turn of the century, Calico was all but a ghost town, and with the end of borax mining in the region in 1907 the town was completely abandoned. Many of the original buildings were moved to Barstow, Daggett and Yermo.Īn attempt to revive the town was made in about 1915, when a cyanide plant was built to recover silver from the unprocessed Silver King Mine’s deposits. There was also a Wells Fargo office and a telephone and telegraph service. At its height of silver production during 18, Calico had over 500 mines and a population of 1,200 people. Local badmen were buried in the Boot Hill cemetery.

The county established a school district and a voting precinct. The town also had a deputy sheriff and two constables, two lawyers and a justice of the peace, five commissioners, and two doctors.

The town soon supported three hotels, five general stores, a meat market, bars, brothels, and three restaurants and boarding houses. Describing the peak as “calico-colored”, the peak, the mountain range to which it belonged, and the town that followed were all called Calico. The four prospectors discovered silver in the mountain, and opened the Silver King Mine, which was California’s largest silver producer in the mid-1880s. A post office was established in early 1882, and the Calico Print, a weekly newspaper, started publishing. In 1881 four prospectors were leaving Grapevine Station (present day Barstow, California) for a mountain peak to the northeast. Calico received California Historical Landmark #782, and in 2005 was proclaimed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California’s Silver Rush Ghost Town. Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950s, architecturally restoring all but the five remaining original buildings to look as they did in the 1880s. The following information was compiled from various websites. Admission fees: Adults $8.00 / Child 6-15 $5.00 / Under 5 is free. For more information visit Giant letters spelling CALICO can be seen on the Calico Peaks behind the ghost town from the freeway.Ĭalico is open from 9:00AM to 5:00PM every day of the year except Christmas. The town is nestled in the foothills to the north. If you travel to Southern California often you’ll recognize this area as the agriculture inspection stop. Founded in 1881 in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert, Calico is now a county park located off Interstate-15 about three miles from Barstow and three miles from Yermo.

On the same trip I decided it was time to learn about Calico Ghost Town, another I-15 roadside attraction that needed to be explored.Ĭalico is a former silver mining town turned ghost town in San Bernardino County, California. My last blog entry was about ZZYZX, which was nothing more than a road sign to me until recently. I’ve made a conscientious effort this past year to make the stops and learn about places I’ve passed by for years. How many times have you wanted to stop at an historic roadside marker or attraction but just keep rolling on? I generally make it a point to make the stops but there are a few routes where I feel I have to get to my destination quickly Interstate-15 being one of them.