Today we visited Calico which some 127 years ago was a bustling with prospectors searching for mineral wealth. Its located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert and was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town. The Silver King Mine was established and Calico Mining district became the richest in the state. In its hayday it was producing $US 86 million in silver, $45 million in borax. With a population of 1,200. It had 22 saloons, a China Town and a red light district. It contiued this way until 1907. Like most towns of the early West , when the price of silver dropped from $1.31 an ounce to 63 cents an ounce, Calico became a ghost of its former self.
Today, it is a one of the few remaining original mining towns of the western USA thanks to Mr Walter founder of Knotts's Berry Farm. In 1966 he donated Calico to San Bernardino Country.
There is a lot of history in this little town.
One of the bars.
There is the opportunity to pan for gold and to explore a mine.
Some of the workers in the 1880's.
There is also an opprtunity to walk back in time and see how people loved
the dentist:
The home maker:
What made Calico run
It was a very windy day however, well worth the visit.
Cheers,
Ross and Beverley
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