I DON’T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS — NOT CASPER, Wendy or even Spiritus Sancti. But ghost towns, well, that’s a whole different story.
Calico Ghost Town
We hadn’t ever heard of Calico until we stayed in the Barstow/Calico KOA campground in Yermo and then we could hardly resist a visit. Just as gold fever of ’49 was dying down, silver was discovered in 1881 in the calico-colored mountains, giving the mountains, the peak and the town the name Calico. Over the next dozen years Calico boasted more than 300 claims and several dozen mines that produced over $20 million in silver ore. The population climbed to 1200 including miners from Cornwall, Ireland, and a sizable Chinese population. There was a post office, several lodging houses including one comprised of caves, 22 saloons and a red-light district.
More than 300 mines in its heyday
The boom years became bust years and Calico’s population went from corporeal to spiritual. In the 1950s, former prospector Walter Knott — he of Knott’s Berry Farm fame — purchased the entire town. He restored all but five of the original buildings to their 1880s condition with the intention of creating a theme park. Instead he donated the town to San Bernardino County for the rest of us to enjoy. His theme park became Knott's Berry Farm which includes a ghost town modeled after Calico.
