Yermo California

In 1881 history notes one of the largest silver strikes in California history. The place, the Calico Ghost Town located at the base of the Calico Mountains.. This silver mining town still lives on just off I-15 to Las Vegas. As one of the few original mining camps of the Old West, you can visit this working town.

The originally name of Yermo was Otis named after Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times. The town was founded in 1904 as a railroad station. Then the post office came 1908. Then the name was to Yermo an Indian word meaning "Desert Flower".

The mines at Calico had produced between $13 million and $20 million dollars worth of silver before they were shut down because the price of silver dropped in 1892. Then in the 1930's Walter Knott of Knott's Berry Farm bought it. He moved many of the building to the Knott's Farm in Buena Park where they are still in use today in Knotts Ghost town.

In the 1950's, Walter turned the Calico Ghost Town into a tourist attraction. The town never achieved the success of the Knott's Farm and so it was given to the County of San Bernardino.

On some properties, you can download more detail information. All files are in (pdf) Adobe® format. The reader is free and easy to view and print pdf files. Click to Download the Reader
Downloading pdf files takes a little time, please be patient...