Sunday, January 22, 2017

Calico Ghost Town


On the way to Vegas from LA there is a ghost town nestled high in the Calico Mountains of San Bernadino County, California. Established in 1881 and purportedly the most lucrative silver mine in California, Calico's population just abandonded the town in the mid 1890s when silver lost its value.
It was named by four prospectors who described a mountain peak they were headed for as "calico coloured".  these prospectors discovered silver and opened the Silver King Mine.

A post office was established as well as the the Calico Print, a weekly newspaper.
With a population reaching 1200 and peaking at around 3500, Calico boasted a Wells Fargo office and a telephone and telegraph office.  When  the value of silver dropped the town was deserted and some of the buildings where moved to other towns like Barstow.   In 1915 there was an attempt to revitalise the town when a cyanide plant was built to recover any unprocessed silver.
Around 1951 Walter Knott, the founder of Knotts Berry farm, purchased the town and reconstructed it using old photographs before gifting it to San Bernadino County in 1966.  


With its mines I thought this was a perfect place to take the vampires when they were not in Vegas.  They have ample deep, dark places to hide.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 









 

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