Calico, California

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Calico, California

Calico is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is a town or city that has been completely abandoned by human inhabitants, usually because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as flood, government action, uncontrolled lawlessness or war....
located in the Mojave Desert

Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert , , locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, in the United States....
region of Southern California

Southern California

Southern California, or So Cal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers on the cities of Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, San Bernardino, California, and Riverside, California....
. Founded in 1881 as a silver

Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
town, today it is a county park

Park

A park is a Environmental protection, in its natural or semi-natural state or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment....
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Encyclopedia

Calico is a ghost town

Ghost town

Mojave Desert

Southern California

Silver

Mining

Park

A park is a Environmental protection, in its natural or semi-natural state or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment....
. It is located in unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of Real property that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city or town with its own government....
San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County, California

San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,709,434. As of 2007, the population was estimated by the California Department of Finance to have grown to 2,028,013....
off Interstate 15

Interstate 15 in California

In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 15 is a major north-south route through the San Bernardino County, California, Riverside County, California, and San Diego County, California Counties, and it has a length of in the state....
, 3 miles from Barstow

Barstow, California

Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, California, United States. The population was 21,119 at the 2000 census.Barstow is a major regional transportation center....
. Giant letters spelling CALICO can be seen on the Calico Mountains behind the ghost town from the freeway.

At its height, Calico boasted a population of 1,200 people, and over 500 silver mines. Now however, the town is populated by no more than 12 people, while the mines are inactive. Besides the usual assortment of bars, brothels, gambling halls and a few churches, Calico also supported a newspaper, the Calico Print

Calico Print

The Calico Print was a newspaper, established in 1882 and published during the heyday of the silver mining camp of Calico, California prior to 1902....
. During the mid 1890s the price of silver dropped and Calico's silver mines were no longer economically viable. With the end of borax

Borax

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid....
mining in the region in 1907 the town became completely abandoned. The last original inhabitant of Calico before it was abandoned, Mrs. Lucy Bell Lane, died in the 1960s. Her house remains as the main museum in town.

In 1951, Walter Knott

Walter Knott

Walter Marvin Knott was an US farmer who created the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in California.In the 1920s, Walter Knott was a somewhat unsuccessful farmer, whose fortunes changed when he nursed several abandoned berry plants back to health....
, founder of Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm is a brand name of two separate entities in the United States: a theme park in Buena Park, California, and a manufacturer of food specialty products based in Placentia, California....
, purchased the town and began restoring it to its original condition referencing old photographs. Though five of the original town buildings exist today, many others were recreated as replicas of their originals on preexisting foundations.

In 1966, Walter Knott donated the town to San Bernardino County, and Calico became a county regional park.

Today, the park operates mine tours, gunfight stunt shows, gold panning, a restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery ....
, the Calico & Odessa Railroad and a number of general merchandise stores. It is open daily, and requires an entrance fee. During the tours, one may see silver ore so rich that there are gray spots of silver in the rock.

Some believe that Calico is haunted by the spirits of miners.

The town was the basis for the Kenny Rogers and the First Edition

The First Edition

The First Edition was a country music/rock band stalwart members being Kenny Rogers , Mickey Jones Terry Williams . The band formed in 1967, with noted folk musician Mike Settle and the operatically trained Thelma Camacho completing the lineup....
album The Ballad of Calico
The Ballad of Calico

The Ballad of Calico was the eighth studio album by The First Edition and released as Reprise Records 6476. It reached #118 on the albums chart and produced one single, "School Teacher" which reach #91....
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Calico is a registered California historic monument, and is one of a number of ghost towns in California (other examples are Drawbridge

Drawbridge, California

Drawbridge is an abandoned railroad station located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay on Station Island, California, in an unincorporated portion of Alameda County, California, California, United States....
and Bodie

Bodie, California

Bodie, California is a ghost town east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe....
). It is the "official state silver rush ghost town" of California.

The ZIP Code

ZIP Code

File:UseZipCode.JPGThe ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service . The letters ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, are properly written in capital letters and were chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the code....
is 92398 and the community is inside area code 760

Area code 760

Image:Area_code_760.png|right|Map of California area codes in blue with 760 in redrect 65 82 92 100 Area code 916rect 220 242 245 256 Area code 909...
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Calico, California

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