Calico Ghost Town is a great place to head for a Day Trip or even a fun Field Trip with the kids. Over the weekend, my husband and I headed out towards Barstow for a fun day of exploring all that Calico Ghost Town has to offer.
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Calico Ghost Town was once an actual Mining Town long, long ago. The Town boomed in March of 1881 when prospectors from all over came in search of riches. Calico was one of the richest mining districts in the state. In 1887, the town population hit its highest at 1200 people in the town. Once the price of Silver dropped, Calico began to fade away as the population steadily dropped, until the town was just a ghost of its former self.
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Walter Knott, who is also the founder of Knott's Berry Farm restored much of the town in 1951. Many of the buildings needed to be restored but some needed to be rebuilt. One of the buildings, The Bottle House, was built using bottles. Knott's reasoning was he wanted people to see that buildings, homes, and businesses were often built using anything available to the miners, not just wood that had to be shipped from somewhere else. Today, you can step inside The Bottle House and schedule yourself an hour-long ghost tour every Saturday at 7pm.
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The town had one schoolhouse. The school had as many as 30-40 students enrolled in a year, but only half would be in attendance on any given day. The Schoolhouse that stands today is a replica of the one that was actually used back in the 1880s to the 1900s.
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You can see many natural mysteries as you take a walking tour of the Mystery Shack, or Pan for Gold at the Gold Mining shop. The Maggie Mine Tour and the Calico/Odessa Railroad were both closed during our visit. But we hope it will be open the next time we go back.
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Among the 39 buildings in Calico Ghost Town, there are several gift shops where you can purchase handmade goods from the locals, as well as many Native American pieces as well. There are also many options for snacks like popcorn. ice cream and drinks. The Calico House Restaurant was closed but it did boast of some amazing meals. *Note: The Calico House Restaurant serves bowls of peanuts at their tables, so if you have a peanut allergy, that will be a place to avoid.
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All in all, there is much to see, read, and learn about during a trip to Calico Ghost Town. It was a fun Day Trip for me and my husband, but we can't wait to bring our kids back with us in a few months for a field trip so they can enhance their learning about California History.
36600 Ghost Town Road,
Yermo, CA 92398
760.254.1123
~ Trish
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