Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, about 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe.
Bodie is an original mining town from the late 1800's. What's left today stands in a state of "arrested decay" and is maintained by the California State Parks System, who took over the town in 1962 to make it a State Historic Park. Only about five percent of the buildings it contained during its 1880 heyday still remain.
In 1859 William (a.k.a. Waterman) S. Bodey discovered gold near what is now called Bodie Bluff. Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey perished in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. A mill was established in 1861 and the town began to grow. It started with about 20 miners and grew to an estimated 10,000 people by 1880! By then, the town of Bodie bustled with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters, prostitutes and people from every country in the world. At one time there was reported to be 65 saloons in town. Among the saloons were numerous brothels and 'houses of ill repute', gambling halls and opium dens - an entertainment outlet for everyone.
Bodie is an original mining town from the late 1800's. What's left today stands in a state of "arrested decay" and is maintained by the California State Parks System, who took over the town in 1962 to make it a State Historic Park. Only about five percent of the buildings it contained during its 1880 heyday still remain.
In 1859 William (a.k.a. Waterman) S. Bodey discovered gold near what is now called Bodie Bluff. Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey perished in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. A mill was established in 1861 and the town began to grow. It started with about 20 miners and grew to an estimated 10,000 people by 1880! By then, the town of Bodie bustled with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters, prostitutes and people from every country in the world. At one time there was reported to be 65 saloons in town. Among the saloons were numerous brothels and 'houses of ill repute', gambling halls and opium dens - an entertainment outlet for everyone.
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