Calico

Calico Ghost Town is located 10 miles north of Barstow, California. The town was founded in 1881 and its history as a silver mining town lasted until the 1890s.

The ghost town of Calico thrived during the mining boom when some lucky people struck it rich, but other poor folks lost everything they owned. Today it is home to many ghosts, including friendly town drunks, billiard players, miners, children, and school teachers.

One of the most often sighted ghosts is that of Lucy Bell King Lane, a woman who owned the general store in Calico. A ghostly woman wearing a long black dress has been seen walking between the old store and the home that she lived in until her death. Her favorite rocking chair has been seen moving of its own accord. People who visit her old store have often heard unexplainable noises and see shadows moving out of the corners of their eyes.

The school house that sits on top of the hill in Calico, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl. Many people have reported seeing the ghostly apparition of an 11 year old girl in the window, smiling and waving at passers by.

Recently, two British tourists visited the school house and were greeted by a woman dressed in period costume. They said the woman told them she was the last teacher in Calico. As they were leaving, they took photos with the teacher, but when they got home and had the pictures developed, they were shocked to discover that the teacher didn’t appear in any of the photographs. They found out later that the last school teacher in Calico was Margaret Olivier, who died in 1932 and is buried in the Calico Cemetery. The tourists swear that she was the woman they saw that day.

The old silver mines in the hills surrounding Calico are supposedly haunted by the ghosts of the miners who died in them years ago. Visitors claim that spirits lurk within the depths of Maggie’s Mine which is open to the public. They have reported extreme cold spots throughout the mine and feelings of their hair standing on end.

Hank’s Hotel once belonged to an angry old cowboy and people claim to have spotted his ghost near the fence. People have reported something tugging on their wrists, hands and clothing along the boardwalk in front of the hotel. Another man claimed that he was climbing over the fence when something invisible punched him in the leg.

Calico’s Main Street is haunted by the ghost of Calico’s last marshal, Tumbleweed Harris. Visitors have described seeing the ghostly figure of a big man with a white beard roaming the boardwalk.

The disembodied voices of crowds celebrating have been heard at the Calico Corral and Lil’s Saloon, even though no one was in the buildings. A spectral lady in a long white dress has frequently been seen walking near the outskirts of the Calico ghost town and at the building that once housed the town theater. The town is also famous for the “Lights of Calico”, where moving lights or energy clouds can be seen.