But instead of developing a theme park, Knott channeled restoration efforts, and in 1966 he donated the 480-acre property to San Bernardino County as a regional park. Thinking Calico’s history might serve as a tourist draw between Barstow and Las Vegas, Knott envisioned a family park providing such activities as gold panning and horseback riding, and lodging modeled after late 19th-century hotels. Calico residents and mine owners Robert Whitney Waterman and Henry Harrison Markham served consecutively as California governors between 18.Ĭalico’s population plummeted through the first half of the 20th century, until Walter Knott-a local miner and homesteader-bought the town in 1951. In the 1880s Postmaster Everett “Bill” Stacy and brother Alwin trained a Border collie named Dorsey to deliver mail between the post office and Alwin’s store at the Bismarck diggings- a story recounted, with embellishment, in a 1977 Wonderful World of Disney episode titled “Go West, Young Dog.” Prospector Annie Kline Townsend, who supported a young daughter, claimed to have carried dispatches for the Confederate Secret Service. The 1893 repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the ensuing depression prompted closure of nearly all the mines, leaving the borax operations as the sole income earners.ĭuring its heyday Calico claimed several notable characters. The significant drop in the price of silver, from a high of $1.31 per ounce to a low of between 60 and 63 cents per ounce in 1897, tarnished Calico’s reputation as a silver mecca. Until the nationwide financial panic in the 1890s, the Calico mines yielded more than $20 million in silver and $9 million in borax. The Silver King, Oriental and Bismarck in particular drove Calico’s wealth during the boom period of 1881–1907. The relatively shallow ore deposits and natural firmness of tunnel walls around Calico kept operating costs low, unlike many other California mining operations that required significant investment capital to extract the ore.
Within two years the discovery of borax deposits at nearby Mule Canyon lured even more miners to the district, and by 1886 the hills were honeycombed with shafts. From their strike and related claims sprang the Calico Mining District.
Miners John McBride, Larry Silva and Charlie Mecham filed the earliest recorded silver claim in March 1881 after striking a vein in a canyon soon dubbed Wall Street. During its mid-1880s peak Calico boasted more than 300 claims, several dozen established mines, a population of 1,200 (including a Chinese quarter), a post office, several lodging houses and hotels, 22 saloons and a red-light district. At the base of 4,491-foot Calico Peak a soon-thriving silver mining town took the same name. The name stuck for both the peak and the surrounding range. In 1881 Barstow area silver miner John Peterson described a prominent peak some 10 miles to the northeast as “calicocolored,” as the shades reminded him of the pattern typical to a pioneer woman’s skirt. Welcome to Calico, a living ghost town with a rich, colorful history. However, amid the mountains and yuccas of the Mojave Desert a town once thrived.
Folded mountains line the horizon, and scattered Joshua trees populate the desert-pretty much the extent of scenery along this stretch. When visiting, keep in mind that there are additional charges to enter the museum, the mine, the mystery house, or to ride on the train.Ghost Town: Calico, California | HistoryNet Closeĭrivers will find no Walmarts, malls or suburban enclaves along I-15 between Barstow, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. I so wanted that experience of seeing of the sun come through the colored bottles. They are done by a group volunteers who come from out of the area to preform and are most likely to occur on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.Īnd the bottle house? Well the inside is now open to the public. We have since learned that the shoot-outs in the street are not a regularly scheduled event. On the bright side though, it was a miserably - but not unbearably - hot day. Worst of all, the bottle house was closed and undergoing some type of construction. The Lucy Lane Museum was closed, there were no shoot-outs in the street, and we couldn't get our buffalo burgers because the restaurant was closed to prepare for a tour group. Even though this was September 28, we felt like we had arrived in the off-season. Oh well, it's only money, and we were there for the buffalo burgers and the bottle house. We didn't learn this until it was too late. Overnight camping at Calico includes admission to the Ghost Town for up to six people.
0 kommentar(er)
