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Location: Calico Ghost Town is located approximately 10 miles east of Barstow, California off of Interstate 15. Turn north at Yermo and follow the signs. The town is located about 4.5 miles north, on a small mesa located at the base of the Calico Mountains.
In 1875, a miner named George Lee discovered silver ore at what would become Calico approximately 7 miles north of the Mojave river. The ore looked so much like mercury that at first it was thought to be quicksilver (cinnabar ore is the ore for mercury). George Lee did not live to benefit from his discovery. In the fall of 1879, he was found dead near Emerson dry lake east of present day Apple Valley, California. In the early summer of 1880, two mill owners named Robert W. Waterman and John L. Porter, visited the Lee mine and took some samples to have assayed. Finding them rich in silver, they staked their own claims.
The following spring of 1881, a man named Lowery Smith made his discovery of silver ore in the Calico Mountains and shortly thereafter S. C. Warden, Hues Thomas, and John C. King located the Silver King mine. Within a short time the discoveries of the Burning Moscow, Oriental, Waterloo, Garfield, and Bismarck would dot the area. At one time there were 46 mines located around Calico.
In 1882 a five stamp mill was processing the ore from the Burning Moscow mine but the owners of the Silver King were sending their ore 40 miles south to the 10 stamp mill located at Oro Grande near present day Victorville. The owners of the Oro Grande Mill decided to build a mill closer to Calico and built one on the Mojave river straight south of the town. One of the problems with the remoteness of the mines, was finding fuel to run the mills. In no time, all of the cottonwoods located along the Mojave river were gone from powering the mills and "greasewood" (Creosote bush) was being used in homes. The summers proved to be hot and the winters were cold and bleak.
| 1) Fish ponds on the Mojave River | 2) Yermo | 3) Toomey | 4) USMC base |
| 5) Silver King Mill | 6) Bartlett Mine | 7) Barber Mill | 8) Bartlett Mill |
| 9) Snowbird Mine | 10) New Oro Grande Mill | 11) Borate and Daggett Railroad | 12) Marion |
The mines at Calico produced somewhere between $13 million and $20 million dollars worth of silver before being shut down due to the falling price of silver in 1892. The mines were reworked in 1917 and again during the 1930's. Some mining has been done in recent years but for the most part, the mines are quiet now. The town of Calico burnt down in 1883 and had to be rebuilt. In the 1930's it sat empty until Walter Knott of Knott's Berry Farm fame bought it in the 1950's and turned it into a tourist attraction. His reason for buying it was that John C. King, one of the original owners of the Silver King Mine was his uncle. It has since been given to San Bernardino county. It is open as a tourist attraction and is a very fun place to take the family for a look at the old west. A year or so ago, part of the town burnt down again. It is open and still doing business. Besides stores and eating establishments, there are many displays of old mining equipment, antiques, and a tour of one of the old mines.
Borax Smith mined borax near here from 1884 until 1907 with a total production of some $9 million dollars worth of borax. The deposits were located in Mule Canyon, just east of Calico.
References: Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California by David Myrick. This set is considered to be the definitive historical narrative for railroads in both Nevada and Eastern California. Desert Fever by Larry M. Vrendenburgh, Gary L. Shumway, and Russell D. Hartill
