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Calico Cemetery
Calico, San Bernardino County, California

Contributed by Steve Johnson [steve@cleardigitalmedia.com]. Total records = 12.

In 1881, three men, Charlie Meacham, Johnny McBride, and Larry Silvia discovered silver in the Calico Mountains. Miners from all around came to work the mines. The town of Calico sprang up, and at one time reached a population of 3,500, not including an additional 1,500 in the greater Calico Mining District. All the silver from Calico was sent to San Francisco to make coins. By 1900, the price of silver dropped half of its value, and most of the silver had been mined out. Miners left to find other fortunes and the town died.

Walter Knott, famous for inventing the Boysenberry and creating the world's first theme park, Knott's Berry Farm, had purchased the ghost town of Calico, and restored the buildings. He then used it to create a duplicate ghost town exhibit at Knott's Berry Farm. Dennis Casebier of the Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association believes that Knott took some of the artifacts from Calico and used them as ornaments at Knott's Berry Farm, including taking some of the tombstones. There is a cemetery exhibit at Knott's, but it's not known for sure if those tombstones were originally from Calico. In 1966, Knott donated Calico to the county.

The cemetery has 137 visible graves. Some graves have wooden markers with some noticeable inscriptions, but not legible enough to read. Other graves are noted only by mounds of rocks. There are some recent graves here. Only 12 graves in all have readable markers.

The cemetery can be visited by taking Interstate 15 to Ghost Town Road, which lies about 5 miles north of Barstow. Take the road to the Calico Ghost Town park entrance. There is an entrance fee of $6.00 per person. The cemetery lies to the left of the entrance.

Brown, Carl Alton, b. 18 Oct 1918, d. 23 Jan 1994, "M Sgt US Marine Corps World War II Korea"
Bruce, James L., b. Jun 1913, d. Oct 1986, "Western Artist"
Coke, Lucille B., b. 1895, d. 1981, "Loved Mother, Loyal Friend"
Goldsmith, Nancy Jean, b. 12 Feb 1925, d. 25 Apr 1991, "Beloved Wife of Sheriff Lonesome George"
Greer, Jennie C., b. 1863, d. 1945
Greer, Robert H., b. 1856, d. 1941
Harris, Tumbleweed, b. 29 Dec 1906, d. 8 Oct 1979, "Marshal of Calico 7 Years"
Hughes, Don B., b. 12 Jul 1911, d. 2 May 1983, "Uncle Don"
Kelso, Earl C., b. 27 Jul 1923, d. 5 Apr 1999, "Town Greeter - Doc Holliday"
Montana, Billy, b. 15 Jun 1926, d. 3 May 1978, "Sgt US Army World War II"
Olivier, Margaret Kincaid, b. 1849, d. 1933, "Calico School Teacher 1898 & 1899"
Wallace, Helen, b. 26 Jul 1921, d. 7 Sep 1982, "Death Valley Helen"