It has been 25+ years since Steve and I rambled about in this historic town. We are camped here which makes it extra fun because we can stroll "into town" whenever we please. Touristy + History= Happy Denise!
The town of Calico was settled, beginning in 1881, as news of California’s largest silver strike spread. It thrived for over a decade as $20 million worth of silver ore was extracted from some 500 mines, including the important Silver King Mine. When the price of silver plunged – due to the frenetic pace of exploration and mining during those years – Calico began losing population, and by 1896 most of the inhabitants had moved away, leaving it a ghost town.
And who saved it? Walter Knott (yes, that Knott) had worked as a carpenter for a short time in Calico as a young man, and his uncle John King had been one of the founding partners of the Silver King Mine. The experience of Calico stuck with him, and as he was building Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California in the 1940s, among his favorite attractions was a mock ghost town, in order to “show life as it was lived in the early days.” Knott purchased the entire town of Calico in 1951 and added it to the Knott’s Berry Farm company assets. He moved some of the original buildings to the Buena Park attraction, and then restored/recreated the original buildings in Calico to look as they did in the 1880s.
In 1966, after completing restoration, Knott deeded the entire ghost town to the County of San Bernardino, and it is now a county regional park, honored as State Historical Landmark 782.For us, wandering its streets, popping into its shops and just imaging what once was made the day extraordinary!The inscription on this plaque partially reads, "Walter Knott is dedicating Calico Ghost Town to the memory of the heroic silver miners who lived and toiled here. The preservation of this singular California heritage is also dedicated to you, the visitor, as a constant source of learning and enjoyment."Due to it being a Thursday with 45 mph wind gusts, it felt a bit like a true ghost town, at times.Yet, many of the buildings were open with displays for our exploring pleasure.I loved this 1888 Aherns Steam Fire Engine and was intrigued by the thought of it being used in this very flammable town.We got to meet one of Calico's most famous residents, Lucy Bell King Lane, a woman who spent nearly seventy years of her life here.
When she was 18 years old, she married John Robert Lane and the two opened a general store that provided not only provisions to the mining population, but also cloth, nails, and hardware.They prospered briefly but when the silver market began to decline, the couple left Calico in 1899. However, the couple returned in 1916, making their old store their home. Four years later, they moved into the old courthouse and post office building. Her husband John died in 1934, but Lucy would continue to live a long life, staying in the same house until she died in 1967 at the age of 93.Her home is now a museum, sharing with us just how life was.We met a current resident, the Chukar. What a darling and delightful bird.I found this Calico Ghost Town miner statue interesting because he was created by Claude Bell in the 1950s. He made similar statues for Knott's Berry Farm. It is not known if these statues were built for Calico or if they were moved here from Knott's. I did a post about the Cabazon Dinosaurs which were created by Claude Bell, as well. It is a small world. As we explored, at times we forgot that this was a real, active mining town.Miners' homes were constructed anywhere they could get out of the elements.
And they used whatever resources they could find for building materials. In boomtowns, because saloons and taverns were often among the earliest businesses, bottles were plentiful and made great building material. The Bottle House (1953-54) was constructed much later than Calico's origins. Knott had seen and been impressed by the bottle house in Rhyolite, NV, photographed it, and used it as a model for this house, which he constructed out of 5,419 bottles. A square-shaped one-story building set into the mountain rising behind, a side façade is ornamented with the name Calico on top and a zigzag pattern of green bottles set against lighter ones along the foundation. An outlined eight-pointed star is set into another wall. As with many bottle houses, the butt ends of the bottle form the exterior surface; on the inside, the bottle necks protrude without smoothing mortar.There are so many aspects of Calico that exist at Knott's Berry Farm. The Bottle House is one and so familiar to us.
It was interesting to learn about Calico's Chinatown and the residents' entrepreneurial spirit.The schoolhouse was lovingly recreated by Knott in the 1950s.Photo opportunities abound!The Haunted Shack (1954-2000) at Knott's Berry Farm, was a favorite. "During the early part of the century, a strange roadside phenomena occurred. Places where the geomagnetic forces appeared to be misaligned... places where gravity and light were distorted. People promoted the gimmick as a tourist attraction where round objects and streams run uphill, folks walked on walls, brooms stand on end." We loved the gimmick and are happy to see it is alive and well at Calico. This recreation of a bakery, with the ornate (and very vintage) wig made us laugh.We thank Walter Knott for his foresight to save Calico for future explorers. Where else can one have so much fun, in history, for $8? Right now, I can think of nowhere else. We are happy campers.
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