Calico Ghost Town

Calico is an old west mining town that has been around since 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. With its 500 mines, Calico produced over $20 million in silver ore over a 12-year span. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population; the miner's packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. and it became a "ghost town." Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950's and architecturally restored all but the five of the original buildings to look as they did in the 1880's. In November 1962, Calico Ghost Town was registered as a California Historical Landmark. Calico received State Historical Landmark 782 and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.