There are so many abandoned places in California! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in California. Browse through all abandoned places in California
Calico which is now referred to as Calico ghost town is an abandoned silver mining town established in the Mojave Desert, Southern California. Today, it is a ghost town within Bernardino County Regional Park.
After the discovery of Borate, the town was flooded by mines and people including foreigners which led to over-exploitation of the mines. In 1896, the price of silver went down, reducing profit from silver mining drastically. Mines began to close down shortly afterward and by 1898, the town post office and school closed down. Residents who were mostly miners relocated to other towns leaving Calico to decay by the beginning of 1907.
In 1915, the town was revived for a short period when the Zenda mining company bought the Silver King mine. Zenda mining company built a cyanide plant with an effort of processing silver mine’s left deposits. Walter Knott came to know of the town when he was tasked to build the cyanide tanks. Knott shortly after coming to know of the town traveled to the town with his son to see what potential it had. Being the founder who built the imaginary Knott’s Berry Farm, the two were amazed by what they saw. Knotts bought the land from Zenda and began the process of restoring it. He used old photographs and insights from others who still lived in the town. It cost him 700,000 US dollars to fully restore the town. Knotts later donated the town to the county of Bernardino.
Calico town was fully restored and turned into a park. Most of the original buildings were replaced by replicas but some which were still in good shape were renovated. Calico ghost town is now under the state of California managed by Bernardino County Park. It is open to the public for a tour any day at a fee.
Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles is an abandoned former City Park that opened in 1912. After more than 50 years of operations, “Old Los Angeles Park” as it is commonly known closed down and was left to rot after a new and bigger park was established.
Griffith Park was constructed in 1912 and it was the second park in the city of Los Angeles after 1885 Eastlake Zoo. It started with a population of only 15 animals of which were donated by a local William Nicholas after his failed plans of starting his animal park. It grew over the years and was expanded several times as its population grew. After 54 years of operations, Griffith Park Zoo was deemed obsolete and was closed down.
After the expansion of Griffith Park Zoo over the years it attracted millions of visitors (approximately 2 million visitors yearly) many of which complained about how the park was not well planned or designed and that it was out of date. Mismanagement and neglect of animals in the park grew with the growing number of animals in the park. Many endangered species of animals died at the hands of the management. The state government finally took action closing Griffith Park Zoo in 1966 and building a new and modern Los Angeles Zoo.
Cases of animals crying have been reported by visitors as they claim it is haunted. Some believe that it might be the ghost of its former owner Mr. Griffith haunting the place. Before his death, Mr. Griffith almost lost his property at the hands of a local leader who together with his attorney planned to trick him off the land. Though they were never successful, nieces to Griffith after hearing this are said to have cursed the property to this date. The curse is why many of the owners who bought the park after Griffith’s death never succeeded to get any profit off the land. A farmer who bought the land before it became a park tried farming and cattle rearing on the property but it never worked out. His cattle died mysterious deaths and the crops were all swept away by heavy rains. He sold the land shortly after this incident. Come to think of it, even the state-owned park did not survive.
Griffith Park is now in ruins and gradually decaying even more. It has now been turned into a picnic ground which still attracts visitors to the park. Steel bars of the caves that barred animals from getting to the visitors have since been removed and replaced with picnic tables and grills for meat roasting. The park is open to the public and anyone can visit at their own time.
Sutro baths are a series of abandoned indoor salty water pools at the shore of San Francisco Bay. Sutro Baths were constructed in1894, by a wealthy former mayor Adolph Sutro to provide cheaper alternatives of recreation to the people of San Francisco.
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Sutro Baths were constructed in the year 1894 by Adolph Sutro (a wealthy former mayor) his motivation to build Sutro Baths was to create a place where residents of San Francisco could enjoy at cheaper prices. Sutro Baths had 6 mega pools and 1 freshwater pool with each varying in temperatures. The roof was made of classy glass that gave it glamor during the day when hit by sun rays. Over the years, Sutro Baths became one of the best and cheapest recreation facilities in the region. On top of that, it had railroads that transported visitors to the bay to get a taste of the famous Sutro Baths. Years later Adolph Sutro died and the pools together with his other properties were inherited by his family. The family in the next few years struggled to manage Sutro Baths as its maintenance proved to be a daunting task. At a time, a section of the pool was turned into an ice-skating rink to help generate extra revenue to maintain the complex. Adolph’s family sold the property a few months after it closed.
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Sutro Baths offered cheap services to the public and this made it end up making losses in the long run. After the death of Adolph Sutro, the family took over the property but were unable to maintain it for long. Due to its large size, it meant that almost half of its revenue would go into its management and maintenance. Since it offered cheap services, the revenue collected was not enough to carry out the maintenance. The family, therefore, opted to turn a section of the pools into an ice-skating rink in an effort of generating extra revenue. This effort also failed since Sutro Baths’ popularity dwindled with the death of its wealthy owner. Adolph Sutro’s family finally gave up on the property and sold it to a local real estate developer. The new owners had plans of turning the property into an apartment complex but later gave up after a fire outbreak that destroyed a large portion of the building disrupted their demolition process.
The fire outbreak destroyed the whole roof of the complex which left its wall standing in ruins. Sutro Baths are now empty pond-like structures full of dirty water. You can visit Sutro baths at any moment at zero charges as the San Francisco City Guides offer free tours all around Sutro Heights Park.