Calico Ghost Town
This photographic investigation explored the silver rush ghost town in terms of American 1950 tourists agenda. (reference Route 66)
The restoration of Calico started in 1951, when it was restored to its original condition, in 1966 it was donated to the town of San Bernardino county and Calico became a county regional park.
Calico has since been restored to the look of the silver rush era when it flourished, many of the original buildings were removed and replaced with ‘gingerbread’ architecture and false facades that tourists would expect to see in a Western themed town. This notion of the façade within the mediation of American West architecture is key to my study. Most of the restored and newly built buildings are made of wood with a simple, rustic architecture and a severely weathered appearance (this led to my weathering experiments)
Some original structures still stand, dating back to the town’s operational years, with homes of the Chinese citizens existing as ruins only.
