Journey Through the History of Calico

Feb. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- New from Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Calico by Paige M. Peyton. This pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.

Calico was established in 1881 during one of the largest silver strikes ever recorded in California. At its peak (1887–1896), the town’s population was about 1,200, and Main Street bustled with saloons, hotels, a post office, and a one-room schoolhouse that doubled as a church on Sundays. Historians generally agree that Calico was dead by 1904, but the town always had a small population that simply refused to give up. Authentically restored by Walter Knott in the 1950s, Calico survives as one of the few “living” ghost towns from the Old West era. The images in this book cover 130 years in Calico’s life. Although presented in black-and-white, the stories they tell are as colorful as the surrounding hills that gave Calico its name.

Highlights of Calico include:
•   Calico’s colorful mining history from 1881 through its rescue and restoration by Walter Knott between 1951 and 1966.
•   The discovery and mining of Borax – often referred to as “million dollar dirt.”
•   Photographs of some of Calico’s most famous visitors, including naturalists John Muir, Mary Beal, and John Burroughs.
•   Images of historic newspaper articles, town directories, and advertisements, including a description of the June 1883 fire that destroyed much of the town.
•   Images of several early Calico school teachers, including Virginia Merritt and her miner husband Frank W. Moore II, who worked at the Red Cloud Mine.
•   Six previously unpublished images taken as part of the Depression-era Federal Writer’s Project.

Author Paige M. Peyton is a historical archaeologist who has been writing about a wide range of topics for more than 25 years. Her master’s thesis was about a 19th-century one-room schoolhouse in San Bernardino County, and her doctoral thesis is focused on a copper-mining ghost town in Beaver County, Utah. Peyton’s favorite pastime is photography—particularly the architecture and landscapes of ghost towns across the American West.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com.

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With more than 7,500 local history titles published to date, Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. Widely recognized sepia books feature hundreds of vintage historical images.