The story
Calico was one of the richest silver strikes in California. Between 1881 and 1896 its mines produced roughly $20 million in silver ore, from some 500 claims in hills so streaked with mineral color that miners said they looked like calico cloth. About 3,500 people lived below the diggings.
The repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 collapsed the price of silver, and the town's reason for existing went with it. Borax mining kept a small population going until about 1907; after that, Calico emptied into the desert.
Walter Knott — who founded Knott's Berry Farm, and who had hauled ore at Calico as a young man — bought the whole town in 1951 and rebuilt it from old photographs, then donated it to San Bernardino County. Today it's part original ghost town, part reconstruction, and the easiest one in Southern California to visit with kids.
What remains today
A handful of original buildings among careful reconstructions, the Maggie Mine tour, and hills honeycombed with old workings. More theme park than ruin, but the mining landscape is real.
From the archives
Calico Ghost Town, Yermo, California
Calico, an old West mining town that has been around since 1881 during the largest silver strike in California
Source: Library of Congress digital collections.
Questions from the field
- Is Calico real or a theme park?
- Both, honestly: the mines, hills, and several buildings are original 1880s; much of the street was rebuilt from photographs by Walter Knott in the 1950s. Our classification — Historic Townsite — reflects that.
- Is Calico good for kids?
- It's the most family-friendly ghost town in California — mine tour, rides, and shops — which is exactly why purists prefer Bodie. Different tools for different trips.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
Stamp your passport
Check in at Calico — GPS-verified visits earn an inked stamp.
File a field report
Road conditions, what's still standing, what's gone — your report joins the record.
Add photographs
Credited, dated, and preserved as part of Calico's permanent record.
No field reports yet — sign in to file the first.
Primary sources for this record
- — USGS GNIS feature 1660414
- — San Bernardino County Regional Parks — Calico
- — California Historical Landmark #782