Calico Ghost Town

Hi Blog!

On Saturday, February 6, 2016, we tried our hands at being tourists. Our first stop was breakfast at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner, an original roadside Diner, built in 1954. If you travel anywhere near Barstow, California, you will see signs for Peggy Sue's along Interstates 15, 40 and Route 66. The owners came from Southern California in 1981, reopened the diner in 1987, and attempted to restore and preserve it in its original state. Before moving to the desert, the owners worked for Knott’s Berry Farm and in the movie business. The diner was the perfect place to display their extensive collection of movie and TV memorabilia.

Peggy Sue's original diner was built with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. It sits in the shadow of the Calico Mountains and was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard. It has since expanded to include three separate dining areas, a gift shop and a dinosaur garden. We chose to sit in the original restored section.

After a hearty roadside breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns, english muffin and biscuits and gravy, we ambled through the fifties gift shop and almost bought a Star Trek lunch box. We then took a stroll out to the dino garden and made a silly video for our grandson. Oh, its fun to be a tourist.

Our next "touristy" stop was the Calico Ghost Town. Calico is an old West mining town that has been around since 1881, founded during the largest silver strike in California.  With its 500 mines, Calico produced over $86 million in silver ore over the years.  When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population.  The miners packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living.  It became a "ghost town."

After paying a modest entrance fee, we begin our stroll up Main Street.

Walter Knott (of Knott's Berry Farm fame) purchased Calico in the 1950's, preserved the five original buildings, and built additional buildings based on historic photos so that the town looked as it did in the 1880's.  Calico received State Historical Landmark status and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.

Here is a photo of an early silver stamp. Since the silver was locked inside various rocks, the rocks needed to be crushed in order to render the silver.

Today, Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system and visited by people from around the country and all over the world.  In fact, there were several tour buses filled with folks from China and Japan as this is their Spring Festival season. There are over 30 different attractions. Lane's General Store is one of the original buildings and the shelves are stocked with both historical items and modern day conveniences.

We couldn't resist a stop in Lil's Saloon. On tap was Lobotomy Bock from Indian Wells Brewing Company. We sat a spell in their beer garden and watched our fellow tourists take selfies. The inside of the saloon has portraits of famous gunslingers as well as a genuine poker table.

The town includes a replica of the original school house built in the 1880s.  The replica is one-third the size of the original, but sits in almost the exact location of the original school. During the Silver rush, Calico boasted a population of over 1,200. The discovery of the borate mineral colemanite in the Calico mountains a few years after the settlement of the town also helped Calico's fortunes, and in 1890 the estimated population of the town was 3,500, with nationals of China, England, Ireland, Greece, France, and the Netherlands, as well as Americans living there.

From a scenic lookout above the town, we got a good look at the layout of the town. To the left is the train station and entrance to Maggie Mine. To the right are the buildings that line Main Street.  The valley east of Barstow stretches out in the distance to the south of and below the town.

Built into the side of the mountain are a number of original miner cabins. Since wood was hard to come by, miners just dug holes in the side of the hill and then built front walls of stone.

Here's a look inside one of the one-room rock cabins. This miner must have done pretty well with his claim to afford a sink and cabinet combo!

Here Dave checks out the local accommodations. You never know. If we get tired of this RV thing, we might need a place to settle down.

After checking out the miners' accommodations, we took a train ride over to the family residential area. Since Main Street had over 22 saloons and a red light district, the good family folk of Calico decided to build their homes on an adjacent mesa. Below, our engineer points out the location of the houses. All of the structures had been removed and the wood repurposed. All that remained was the rock foundations.

The Maggie Mining Company was one of Calico's original mines and the home of the "Glory Hole." For a small fee, you can take a self-guided walking tour through a small portion of the over 30 miles of tunnels cut into various levels of the mountain.

The miners dug tunnel ("Drift") No. 1 but never found any silver.

Turns out, they missed the vein by a view feet and had to dig up in order to reach it. Rather than start a new tunnel, they just dropped the ore down the "Glory Hole" and carted it out the main entrance.

There were a number of displays along the route showing what the life of the miners was like.

We thought it was pretty cool walking through the mine tunnels. In fact, we thought they should open up more mine paths. It would make for a great hike "through" the mountains.

After a quick lunch, we were just in time to see a gunfight in front of the Sheriff's Office. It happened so fast, we didn't have a chance to get a photo. Oh well, better luck next time.

We'll probably end up doing a hike or bike tomorrow before settling in to watch the Super Bowl. Until then, stay thirsty my friends.