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Article: EXPLORING CALIFORNIA : CALIFORNIA'S CALICO OLD MINING TOWN DREDGES UP MEMORIES OF HARDSCRABBLE, HONKY-TONK PAST.(Travel)
- Article from:
- Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
- Article date:
- September 22, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Carol Bidwell Daily News Staff Writer
Alan Baltazar hooked his thumb in his suspenders, pushed his flat-front miner's hat back on his head and narrowed his eyes against the desert sun.
``More than 100 years ago, this was the center of the mining district - with six railroads, 300 to 400 houses, 22 saloons,'' he said, gazing up Calico's steep main street lined with ramshackle wooden buildings on the 1880s site of California's richest silver lode.
``There were over 500 mines registered in this mining district, and miners took more than $130 million worth of minerals out of these mountains - $86 million worth of silver, $45 million worth ...