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The town of Calico, located
10 miles from Barstow, California, was born out of a silver rush
in 1881. At its height it boasted a population of approximately
1200 people, mainly involved in silver or borax mining. When silver
ceased being used to back the U.S. currency in the 1890’s, the price
of silver dropped dramatically, and Calico was completely dead by
1907 when borax mining ended. It gets its name from the myriad of
colors that are part of the mountains which are the backdrop for
the town. There is none other like it.
Walter Knott who worked the mines in 1910
has restored the town. The original buildings, as in many of the
early mining camps, were constructed from adobe brick for the lack
of lumber. Cement has been used during the restoration but made
to look as original as possible. Calico had its heyday during the
1880s. |
In 1951, Walter Knott (of Knott’s Berry
Farm fame) bought the town, with the intention of making it a theme park.
Unfortunately for him, he received a lot of bad press. He was also beginning
work on Knott’s Berry Farm at the time, and was taking items from Calico
to be used there.
Locals protested that Knott was stealing their local history, and Disney
jumped on the bandwagon, not wanting competition with Disneyland. Business
and visitation were poor, and Knott found himself incurring an increasing
amount of debt.
In 1966, Knott began the procedure of
"donating" Calico to San Bernadino County, in return for the
cancellation of debt owed on back taxes for the property. San Bernadino
owns the property to this day.
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Other Points
of Interest
The current Calico cemetery is not complete.
There are approximately 40 graves there, and it is unlikely that
a population of only 1200 would have so few graves. Knott built
a wall around the current cemetery, and it is possible that the
original graveyard was much larger.
A staff member was killed by her ride home
on site. Apparently, the ride provider took her paycheck and pushed
her to the bottom of neighboring Odessa Canyon.
The Lane house was the longest occupied original
structure. Lucy Lane lived there seasonally until her death, approximately
1969.
There was supposedly a typhoid epidemic
in 1883. However, no mention of this occurred in local newspapers.
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Calico Hotel and
School House |
Visitors and investigators
to Maggie Mine, the one on-site mine which is open to the public,
Have reported cold spots in the vicinity of the tunnel Y. Also reported
have been feelings of "one's hair standing up" near the
home of the Mulcahey Brothers within the mine. Only about 1000 feet
of the mine are open to the public; metal grates or wooden walls
seal off the rest.
A hillside adjacent to the upper
parking area is commonly mentioned as having orb activity.
According to the town staff, this is the location where Chinese
(possibly Japanese) mine workers would cremate their dead before
having them sent home.The building currently used as the R&D
Fossil and Mineral shop was formerly a theater. Actors reported
items would be moved from the spots at which they were left, and
blamed it on a ghost they called Esmerelda. There is no known historical
basis for this name.
The Calico schoolhouse is one of
the (many) reconstructed buildings in the town. A British couple
visiting the site had a long conversation with a staff member in
period costume. They took pictures with her, but when they returned
home, the staff member did not appear in any of the photos. They
called Calico, requesting pictures of this individual, only to find
out that there had been no staff member to work at the school house
in the past 6 months. While this sounds like an urban legend, one
of the employee historians is emphatic that this happened. He began
working at the site shortly before the British couple requested
replacement photographs. |
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Time |
Description |
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1315-1320 hrs |
While in the Maggie #3 mine at the fork
in the shaft, the team witnessed several anomalous compass readings
(could be from iron ore vein in the walls) and also experienced
a "dead zone" with the radios at the intersection. EMF reading of
1.5 on the high scale. |
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1335 hrs |
Upon developing of film, one of the photos
of one of the stretches of the main shaft a very large white cloud
was caught about head high. There were no discernible sources for
the cloud, and investigator Duncan can be seen in the background
behind the cloud. |
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1430 hrs
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Checked out small mine shaft off the lower
parking lot. Unable to gain full access due to door being partially
blocked. One photo of the interior revealed one possible orb. |
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1410 hrs
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EMF reading slightly higher than normal,
in the Mineral & fossil shop. |
Photographs
Click on the thumbnail
to view the larger image
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Local Contact: Andy Ewing,
Calico ghost town employee.
Calico does warrant a full investigation, as this
was done under less than ideal conditions. Night time acess is prohibited
as there are several popen mine shafts, especially around the area
of the cemetery.
This would be a great place for IE to start the
series.
Best people to talk to about the ghosts & local
lore is Andy Ewing, and the lady who runs the Entrance to the Maggie
Mine. It is also important to emphasize that the large
mineral deposits in this area may have the potential to amplfy normal
background fields. |
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