Calico, California
Calico | ||
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Area codes | 760/442 | |
GNIS feature ID | 1660414 | |
Website | parks | |
Reference no. | 782 |
Calico is a
History
In 1881, four prospectors were leaving Grapevine Station (present day Barstow, California) for a mountain peak to the northeast. After they described the peak as "calico-colored", the peak, the mountain range to which it belonged, and the town that followed were all called Calico.[4]: 51 The four prospectors discovered silver in the mountain and opened the Silver King Mine, which was California's largest silver producer in the mid-1880s.[4]: 51 [5]: 7 John C. King, who had grubstaked the prospectors who discovered the silver vein (the Silver King Mine was thus named after him), was the uncle of Walter Knott founder of Knott's Berry Farm. King was sheriff of San Bernardino County from 1879 to 1882.[6][7]: 154 [8]: 7 [9] A post office at Calico was established in early 1882, and the Calico Print, a weekly newspaper, started publishing. The town soon supported three hotels, five general stores, a meat market, bars, brothels, and three restaurants and boarding houses. The county established a school district and a voting precinct.[10][5]: 11–12 The town also had a deputy sheriff and two constables, two lawyers and a justice of the peace, five commissioners, and two doctors. There was also a Wells Fargo office and a telephone and telegraph service.[4]: 51 At its height of silver production during 1883 and 1885,[10] Calico had over 500 mines and a population of 1,200 people.[4]: 51 Local badmen were buried in the Boot Hill cemetery.[11][12]
The discovery of the
An attempt to revive the town was made in about 1915, when a
The last owner of Calico as a mine was Zenda Mining Company. After building Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm in the 1940s, Walter Knott, his son, Russell, and Paul von Klieben, who was Knott's art director, made a road trip to Calico. The three of them came back filled with enthusiasm. If they could build an imaginary ghost town at Knott's Berry Farm, would it not be possible to restore a real ghost town?[tone] In 1951, Walter Knott purchased the town of Calico from the Zenda Mining Company and put Paul von Klieben in charge of restoring it to its original condition, referencing old photographs.[14]: 102–104 [15][16]
Using the old photos, and Walter's memory and that of some old-timers who still lived in the area, von Klieben was able to not only restore existing structures, but also design and replace missing buildings. Knott spent $700,000 restoring Calico.[14]: 106–108 Knott installed a longtime employee named Freddy "Calico Fred" Noller as resident caretaker and official greeter.[17] In 1966 Walter Knott decided to donate the town to San Bernardino County, and Calico became a County Regional Park.[4]: 52–53
Current status
Calico has been restored to the look of the
In November 1962, Calico Ghost Town was registered as a California Historical Landmark (Landmark #782),[2] In 2002, Calico vied with Bodie in Mono County to be recognized as the Official State Ghost Town. In 2005, a compromise was finally reached when the State Senate and State Assembly agreed to list Bodie as the Official State Gold Rush Ghost Town and Calico the Official State Silver Rush Ghost Town.[19]
Today, the park operates mine tours, gunfight stunt shows,
The Calico Cemetery, which holds between 96 and 130 graves, has had burials in the 20th and 21st centuries.[8]: 68 [20][21]
In popular culture
- Calico is the setting for the 1965 episode "The Book" of the television series, Death Valley Days.[22]
- Michael Murpheyand Larry Cansler; the songs tell the stories of individuals who lived in the town. The album reached No. 118 on Billboard, and produced one single, "School Teacher", which reached No. 91.
- In Brent Maddock's western horror movie Tremors 3: Back to Perfection Calico was used as the set for Carson City, Nevada.[23]
- Tamara Thorne's 2004 horror novel Thunder Road was inspired by Calico.[24]
- Calico is mentioned in Joanna Newsom's 2004 song "Swansea", along with other Californian "ghost towns".
- Jennifer Lynn's 2005 romance novel New Prints In Old Calico was set in Calico.[25]
- Author
- Gorillaz shot the music video for "Stylo" in Calico.[30]
- Korean pop co-ed group
See also
- Calico Early Man Site
- California Historical Landmarks in San Bernardino County, California
- Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm
- Waterloo Mining Railroad
References
- ^ "Calico". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ a b "Calico". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
- ^ San Bernardino County Regional Parks. January 26, 2011. Archived from the originalon May 31, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ OL 2201101M.
- ^ a b Coke, Larry; Coke, Mrs. (1941). Calico. Calico Camp, Yermo, California.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Westernlore Press. pp. 31–35.
- ^ a b Kooiman, Helen (1973). Walter Knott: Keeper of the Flame. Fullerton, California: Plycon Press.
- ^ OL 25346107M.
- ^ Knott's Berry Farm (1959). Calico Ghost Town: Southern California's Greatest Silver Camp. Yermo, California: Calico Print Shop. p. 3.
- ^ OL 1282887M.
- ^ Johnson, Steve (October 2, 2010). "America's Boot Hill Graveyards". Interment.net. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- The Desert Magazine. 5 (40).
- ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ^ Zondervan Publishing House.
- ^ Coke, Lucille; Coke, Larry (1969). Mining on the Trails of Destiny. New York: Vantage Press. pp. 184–186.
- ^ Hemmerlein, Sandi (February 22, 2017). "Where to find Mojave's Ghost Towns – 5. Calico, California". Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- Toledo Blade. May 13, 1951.
- ^ Recorded narration on the Calico and Odessa Railroad ride
- ISSN 0458-3035.
- ISBN 0-313-30836-5.
- ^ Orawczyk, Sarah (January 3, 2012). "An unusual funeral: Calico characters find final resting place in town's graveyard". Desert Dispatch. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- IMDb
- ^ "Where was the "Carson City" set located? I'm about 99.9999% it was at the Calico Ghost Town". Stampede Entertainment. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- San Bernardino Sun. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- ^ "New Prints In Old Calico". Champagne Books. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ Paranormalistics (May 10, 2012). "The Paranormalistics: Calico Ghost Town". Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ Morgan-Richards, Lorin (2015). Welsh in the Old West. A Raven Above Press.
- ^ "3 Infamous Poltergeists of Calico Ghost Town". January 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ Anthroslug (October 29, 2012). "Sluggo's House O' Spookiness: Calico Ghost Town". Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ Garcia, Jesus R. (February 5, 2019). "How the Badass Music Video Stylo by Gorillaz was Filmed". Jesus Behind the Wheel. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ "KARD Drops "Secret KARD" Version of MV for Latest Single, "Hola Hola"". moonROK. August 15, 2017. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.