Bo(ooo)die: A Gold Mining Ghost Town
Located nearby Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park sits an abandoned town that was once a thriving gold mining community. In its heyday, Bodie’s gold mines produced millions in revenue. Today, the eery ghost town is protected as a California State Park.
Visitors are free to explore the town at their own pace.
The buildings are preserved in a state of ‘arrested decay’, meaning that everything is left as it was when the townspeople abandoned it.
One of my favorite things to see was a faded wooden globe in Bodie’s schoolhouse.
Peering into the town’s clubhouse with empty beer bottles littering the bar top was pretty neat as well. The miners sought entertainment after long days in the mine; businessmen recognized this opportunity and filled the town with over 60 dance halls and saloons. The partying caused rowdiness making gun fights, stagecoach holdups, robberies, and street fights common. All this considered, Bodie was a lawless town. In the words of Reverend F. M. Warrington, Bodie was “ . . . a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion.”
After the mines were vastly depleted of resources, there was a massive decline in population: from almost 10,000 to about 1,500 residents. Bodie also suffered two large fires which left only 10% of the town intact. Even so, some of Bodie’s remaining buildings look like they could topple over at any minute.
While others look like they were built in an attempt to last forever.
Needless to say, they all make incredible photographic subjects, especially this sweet little cabin set away from the town.
When can I move in?
xo, M