Exactly 104 miles from our South Lake Tahoe home is the Ghost Town of Bodie. Interestingly, neither Linda or Cyndi had ever been. It was time for a girls' road trip!

Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that once had a population of nearly 10,000 people. The town is named for Waterman S. Body (William Bodey), who had discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. In 1875, a mine cave-in revealed pay dirt, which led to purchase of the mine by the Standard Company in 1877. People flocked to Bodie and transformed it from a town of a few dozen to a boomtown.
"Only a small part of the town survives, preserved in a state of "arrested decay." Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Designated as a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park in 1962, this once thriving mining camp is visited by tourists, howling winds and an occasional ghost." We began our history lesson with a Ranger talk at the Methodist Church (1882).
I love this description, "Spread across the landscape of a high, remote valley in the Bodie Hills, the historic gold mining town of Bodie —one of the richest gold strikes in California — was once known as the most lawless, wild, and tough mining camp in the West. To walk the streets of this ghost town and peer into sites or the windows of the remaining homes and businesses is to be transported back to the days when Bodie was a thriving mining town."
For us, this was pretty much how we spent most of the day. Looking through windows, opaqued by 140+ years of dirt, we were mesmerized!
It was as if the residents vanished, leaving behind all they treasured.

Businesses, too, were left abandoned (note the casket).
Bottles with liquid still in them, linger in the dust.
The school house had a globe, desks and even an organ within its rooms. In 1879, the school saw its highest enrollment of 615 students.
I am constantly intrigued by the stores full of 1880's merchandise. So very strange.

Stories of the quality and amount of gold being mined by the Standard Mining Company sparked a rush of people, and Bodie became a boomtown in 1877. By 1879, it had a population of approximately 8,500 people and more than 2,000 buildings. General stores and saloons supplied the needs of the miners. More than 60 saloons and dance halls lined the streets, providing a source of relaxation and entertainment for the miners after a hard day’s work in the depths of the mines. Gunfights, stage holdups, robberies, and street fights contributed to its reputation of lawlessness.






Part of the fun of exploring Bodie is the discoveries one makes.

The residents were exceptional repurposers. Roofs and walls were made from discarded tin cans.
There were two devastating fires, which added to the town's eventual demise.


One firehouse still exists.


All that remains of the Bodie Bank (1890), after the 1932 fire, is the brick vault. That fire, we learned, was caused by a little boy playing with matches. Wild.



High on my list of must dos was the Stamp Mill Tour. For almost an hour, we walked through one of the most intact Stamp Mills in California. We learn how gold was extracted from quartz and turned into bullion bars. We meandered about the machine shop, electrical room, amalgam tables and the mighty stamps.  Ranger Bill painted a pretty glum picture of the life of a Miner in Bodie. Yikes.











Our last stop was at the Cemetery. There are more than 200 known burial sites in Bodie, with over 150 markers. Many of those can be easily read, while others have been damaged by vandals, or have been worn down by the harsh Bodie winters.
The town of bodie is named for its founder, Waterman S. Bodey (1814-1859), a native of Poughkeepsie, New York. The gravestone reads, "Near here July 20, 1859 Bodey along with his partner and burro struck gold. Four months later returning with supplies he lost his life in a blinding snowstorm. This small, sturdy, indomitable man left Bodie to posterity never knowing it's importance."

I was intrigued by this gravemarker.  The late prospector, miner, and mill hand, Robert T. Bell was the last person to have worked in Bodie's mines. It is through his eyewitness accounts and interviews that much of Bodie's story has been told. So cool.
The saddest story was that of the Angel of Bodie, a three-year-old, who died in 1897. She was the daughter of Albert and Fanny Myers. According to a story on the wall of the museum, Evelyn was watching a worker who was using a pickaxe to break ice around the Myers home. Somehow Evelyn got in the path of the sharp tool and died from her injuries. So very, very sad.

I have been here several times though this was the first time I had seen this tombstone of Bodie’s beloved prostitute, Rosa May. She was buried outside the fence of the cemetery proper, as were all folks on the wrong side of the law. Rosa May was beloved by the men of town, and is said to have nursed many of them back to health during an epidemic. With each visit here, I learn something new. I love it!
Bodie’s fame was short-lived; by 1910 only 698 people remained. The mines, for the most part, had played out. The rest is common Ghost town history. My big question was, "But why did they leave so many of their belongings?' I finally got my answer today. By the time the last residents left, they were financially devastated. To leave town, there were four toll roads. The cost was just too much for most, so they left with the clothes on their back. They have left an amazing and intriguing snapshot of what life was like in this isolated town, nestled at 8,400'. Their loss is truly our gain. What a wonderful day in history!