On our way back from California, we stopped at the Ghost Town, Calico. I've never been to a Ghost Town and although it was pretty cool to see, I was disappointed in the amount of COMMERCIALISM! I'm truly a capitalist, and this definitely was taking advantage of our capitalism! Almost every building was basically a store or served some Commercial purpose. I wish they would have left the buildings vaccant and had a visitor center, with gifts, food, etc. You can't really get the "Ghost Town" feeling when there is so much business going on. We spent two hours here and there was so much to do that I think we could have spent all day.
Calico was developed in 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. Located at the side of towering King Mountain, the town was named for the variety of colors in the mountain that were "as purty as a gal's calico skirt." Calico boomed during 1881-1896; but the end came to the silver rush in 1896 and by 1904 Calico had become a ghost town.
Today the historic silver mining town lives on as one of the few original Old West mining camps. One-third of Calico's original structures still stand; the remaining buildings have been carefully reconstructed to capture the Old West spirit.
*CAUTION: The mines in the Calico area are extremely hazardous and must not be approached for any reason!
This is the school house.
Isik and Sam hanging out front of the Undertakers store.
Austin, Sam and Isik
Fire buckets in the middle of Main Street.
All my boys behind bars!
Austin, Roscoe, and Leo
Sam panning for gold.
Isik and Sam looking over the town.
Happy Sam!
This is one of the mine shafts.
2 comments:
I have driven past the turn-off for this ghost town about a dozen times. Pretty much every time I drive to California. Every single time I have said - oh next time, I would love to visit. But somehow, I am always in a rush to get somewhere, or coming home late at night. THanks for sharing the pictures!
We spent about 2 hours there and could have spent all day. You can even camp there, which I think would be a little weird...
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