Calico Ghost Town - Barstow, CA

Barstow, CA

Owl Canyon, BLM 

We spent a very busy day walking through the Calico Ghost Town just outside of Barstow.  Our friends, Jim & Jenny who brought Peggy Sue's Diner to our attention, also mentioned this ghost town.  I've heard of it but somehow it has escaped my attention.

Calico is located in Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert Region.  It was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town.

Between 1881 and 1907 the mine produced about $17 million in silver and $9 million in Borate.  After 1896 it became unprofitable and like many other boomtowns, slowly died off.

About 1/3 of the towns buildings are original.  The others were painstakenly re-created form photos on the original foundations by Walter Knott, of Knott's Berry Farm.  I like how this town was built on a hillside.  The winding road makes it seem larger.

Firehouse

An 1888 Ahrens Steam Fire Engine, #543 manufactured in Cincinnati and pulled by horses.  It could pump 600 gallons of water a minute.

A hand-carved wooden bathtub.  Pretty cool.

Another Bandito behind bars.

There is some really nice wood working architecture in this town.

The Zenda Mining Co.

Old Hearse.

This shot of the Blacksmith building shows how steep the road is.

Inside the Blacksmith shop.

The original Sweets Shoppe Building was destroyed by a small fire in 2001.  It had also been a hotel and boarding house with many different names over the years.  Long time resident, Lucy Lane, recalled how the miners would chip in for all the children of the town to have a bag of candy at Christmas.

My favorite was the Old Schoolhouse.

It was popular to build homes into the hillsides for natural cooling and heating.  The Hyena House Hotel was built in 1881 when the silver rush had just begun.  It was a four-stories built into an overhanging cliff with walls made from the staves of barrels.  Until large quantities of lumber could arrive by railroad, miners lived mostly in these shelters or tents.

Simple interiors.

The train ride, while short, was worth it.  The conductor gives lots of history about the town.  This was about $5 extra.

Leaning water tanks.

One of the miners shacks.

As we walked up to see the Glass House, this little guy popped out of the rocks. Actually, he was pretty big and over a foot long.

Watch this Chuckwalla give some attitude in this short video!

"Who you lookin' at?!"

Here's the Glass House from the outside.

And here's what it looks like from the inside.  They use the whole bottle.

Rosie's

Inside the old Saloon.

 

We visited longtime resident, Lucy Lane's home.  She lived in it from 1885 - 1967.

Looking down at the town from the top.

Back at the entrance to the cemetery and across the parking lot is this very interesting section of hillside lifted by many faults over the years.  There were some geology students studying it.

Sometimes restored ghost towns can be a little touristy for us.  They did a really good job on this one and we had a great time exploring it.  It was almost empty mid-week and only $8 per person.

On the way back to camp we drove through the town of Barstow to see a few things.

First up was the Largest Fire Fighter's Helmet.

Then we stopped at a few of the colorful and interesting murals throughout town.

Next up was the Railyard.  Unfortunately, it was closed by time we got there.  There is a museum with a large section dedicated to the history of the Harvey Girls.

An interesting story about Hobo's, Tramps and Bums.

  

Another great day at Owl Canyon!