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December 11, 2013

Photo Essay: Route 66's Daggett, From Silver to Solar

You don't hear a lot about silver mining in California. The Golden State usually takes a backseat to Nevada when it comes to silver trails.

But silver was in abundance in the area east of Barstow, now populated by a number of unincorporated ghost towns and their environs: namely, Calico (photo essay forthcoming), and neighboring Calico Junction, later renamed Daggett.



Situated along the Southern Pacific Railroad, Daggett is currently a bustling thoroughfare for freight trains, with a BNSF Railway station on the Needles subdivision.



But, like many towns along Route 66, despite being accessible right off the 40 Freeway in the Mojave...



...Daggett has shrunken in its geographic footprint and population...



...now home to only a couple hundred people...



...many buildings lost...



...and others decrepit.



Despite housing an airport and a former commercial solar project...



...and its successful history in the borax industry (once the terminal of the 20 mule team run from Death Valley)...



...Daggett shrank (as did Calico), as nearby Barstow grew, and became the hub of the Mojave Desert that it is today.

Stay tuned for an exploration of Calico Ghost Town...

Related Post:
Photo Essay: The Living Ghost of Yermo

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