Today, San Francisco is the second largest city in California, but did you know at one time that honor belonged to Bodie? You ask, where in the world is Bodie, California???
Unlike other “ghost towns” I have visited, Bodie State Historic Park preserves an authentic gold rush town with neither residents nor commercial enterprises – a true ghost town. Join me for a taste of what there is to see in Bodie.
Clicking on the images in this post will enlarge most for a better viewing experience.
What remains of the gold rush boom town of Bodie is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains about 13 miles east of highway U.S. 395 in the eastern part of central California. It is a great place to check out when on a trip to Yosemite National Park or doing the U.S. 395 tour.
Although gold had been found earlier, the California gold rush really began with the discovery at Sutter’s Mill in 1848.
What’s known as the forty-niner gold rush slackened as most deposits workable by individual miners were exhausted, and the main rush was over by 1855. However, gold seekers were always looking for the next big strike, and some ventured across the Sierra to prospect on its eastern slope. In 1859, W.S. Bodey (for whom the town became named) discovered gold-bearing rock and staked a claim near the present day townsite. Sadly, Bodey died in a blizzard several months after his discovery so he neither became rich nor saw the town that bears his name.
The type of mining done in the Bodie area was not placer mining (gold panning, etc.), but rather, hard rock mining where ore had to be broken apart (the purpose of a stamp mill) to extract the gold embedded in the rock. This type of mining involved digging mine shafts and tunnels to reach the gold-containing rocks. Mining in the Bodie area progressed slowly until a mine collapse in 1875 exposed a body of rock rich in gold. Over just a few years, the population of Bodie swelled to about 10,000. At its zenith, the mining district had 30 mines (the largest of which was the Standard Consolidated Mine) and nine stamp (ore crushing) mills. Over 2,000 buildings and 400 businesses, including 65 saloons, made up the town.
The Bodie boom lasted only a few years as many of the mines were not success stories. In 1881, the “bust” began as many of the less successful mines played out; miners moved on to seek their fortunes elsewhere; and the population subsequently dropped to about 3,000. By 1890, only 779 residents remained. During the 1890s, a cyanide process for refining gold and silver along with the availability of electricity to run the mill operations brought about a renewed interest in mining the area, with a resulting population increase to 965 in 1900. During its boom years, the mining operations had been steam powered by wood which had to be brought by mule train (and later rail) from sawmills 20 miles away! The final nail in Bodie’s coffin came when, in 1942, the federal government ordered all non-essential gold mines in the United States to close during World War II, and mining never resumed. A post office was maintained in Bodie from 1877 until 1942, and by 1943, the town’s population had dwindled to a total of three people.
In 1890, James Stuart Cain, who had come to Bodie in 1878 as a 25-year old to make his fortune, bought the Bodie Bank and began purchasing properties around the town.
The remains of the Bodie Bank vault are shown to the right which still contains the bank’s safe (above).
In the 1940s, fearing the possibility of vandalism, the Cain family, who by now owned almost the entire town, hired caretakers to protect it. In 1961, the town was designated as a National Historic Landmark, and, in 1962, California commissioned it as Bodie State Historic Park.
Today, the site is being preserved in a state of “arrested decay” which means that buildings and artifacts are not being restored. Only necessary maintenance and stabilization to prevent further degradation is being done. The photo to the right shows one of my favorite buildings, the Swazey Hotel, which is definitely listing!
Today, the town exists pretty much as it did when the residents left it.
Some buildings contain furnishings while former businesses remain stocked with goods, all of which, you can view by peering through windows as seen here.
Touring the park provides the visitor with a snapshot view of what the past was like.
The image above is a November 1879 sketch of the mines and the town in the valley below. This is an eastward looking view. I have added highlighting of the Standard Mill for orientation (photo from Bodie.com).
In its heyday, Bodie’s Main Street was a mile long. The photo to the right was captured looking down onto the town by R.E. Wood circa 1880 (from the CSU Chico Digital Archives)
Uphill to the east of town was the noisy industrial area containing the mines and stamp mills. Today, the remains of the Standard Consolidated Company Mill still stand sentinel above the town.
The central and southern parts of town housed a vigorous business district. The buildings in this photo (right to left) are the morgue (complete with viewable caskets still inside), the Miners Union Hall, the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, and the DeChambeau Hotel with Post Office.
West of Main Street were the homes of the town’s prominent citizens.
The north end of town contained the many “leisure time” establishments – the saloons, gambling halls, brothels of the “red light” district, and Chinatown with its opium dens.
During the boom years, Bodie had a diverse population of miners, businessmen and their families, ladies of the evening, gamblers, Chinese immigrants and Native Americans. In its heyday, Bodie was a rough town which gained the reputation of being a lawless “shooters town” where almost everyone wore a gun (and many used them!) There were frequent wild-west style gunfights that resulted in death while barroom brawls erupted multiple times per day. For example, on September 4, 1880, it was reported in the Bodie Standard, one of the town’s two newspapers, that three shootings and two stage coach hold-ups had occurred in a single day. In 1881, Reverend F.M.Warrington, a Methodist minister, said of Bodie that it was “a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion.” Although Bodie had many “denizens of iniquity”, the town had no churches until 1882 when Methodist and Catholic churches were built and began holding services within one week of each other.
The Methodist Church bell rang for first time on Christmas Day 1882, and its last service was in 1932. Although the Catholic Church burned in 1928, the Methodist Church (left) still stands. It is one of the town’s best preserved buildings, and you can still see the church furnishings (below).
The only parts of Bodie that remain today are what survived a number of fires over the years, the two most serious of which were in 1892 (major) and 1932 (catastrophic).
In its heyday, Bodie had four fire stations of which one remains. You can see what firefighting equipment was like back in the day by looking inside this building.
The 1892 fire started in a restaurant kitchen in the early morning hours and rapidly spread to nearby buildings. Firefighting efforts were hampered by a valve that supplied water to the hydrants having been accidentally turned off at the Standard Mill so that no water was available until the problem was identified and fixed. This delay in fighting the fire resulted in the loss of over 60 buildings. A number of the lodging houses that catered to the single miners and other laborers were among those lost leaving many homeless. After the fire, buildings from back streets were moved into the spots vacated by the buildings that burned along Main Street. The following photo (courtesy of Mono County Historical Society) shows Main Street in 1906.
In June 1932, a massive fire swept through town destroying about 70% of Bodie’s remaining buildings sealing the fate of the once prosperous mining town.
The fire was started by young Billy Godward, aka “Bodie Bill”, who was playing with matches behind the Sawdust Corner Saloon. The day was windy, and the wind stoked the fire into an inferno. Although plenty of water and fire equipment was available, the fire hoses quickly clogged with debris because the water intake screens intended to remove such debris from the water drawn from the reservoirs had not been reinstalled after cleaning. Bucket brigades formed, but they were unable to keep up with the rapidly spreading fire. More than 70% of the town went up in flames, and only the changing of the wind direction spared what is left of Bodie today.
This is part of the news story that appeared on Page 1 of the June 24, 1932 edition of the Nevada State Journal, a Reno, Nevada newspaper (clipped from Newspapers.com).
You can see what Bodie looked like before the fire by watching a short video clip (below) from a film shot there in 1930.
I love mining history and visiting historic places, particularly ghost towns. This had been on my bucket list for quite some time. I visited there in mid-October, and it was a perfect time of year. Since the elevation of Bodie is 8,375 feet, winters are cold and snowy while spring can be muddy. Summer and fall are the best times to visit.
The closest town to Bodie is Bridgeport which, while only about 13 miles away, is truly is “a world away” from the state park, and it certainly is not only a few minutes away! There are four roads that lead to Bodie. Some are quite primitive and rough. The road from Bridgeport is probably the best and takes 45 minutes or so of driving time but can be negotiated by any type of vehicle. Note, there are no services of any kind once you turn off U.S. 395 so make sure you have filled up with gasoline before leaving civilization! There are no concessions within the park so you should bring food, snacks and anything else you might need (sunscreen, hat, clothing for changing weather conditions, etc.) Although I was careful to bring an ample supply of drinking water with me, there are water bottle filling stations and modern restroom facilities available late May through October. Bodie’s entrance fees are $8 for adults, $5 for children aged 4-17, and free for children under 4 years old. Both credit cards and cash are accepted when the entrance kiosk is manned, but only cash can be used at the self-service pay station. The park is only open during daylight hours, and no camping is available.
One of the stipulations made by the Cain family in 1962 when Bodie was given to the California State Park system was that no changes or modernization could be done to the town (hence “arrested decay”). For this reason, no interpretive signs or non-original items have been installed for tourists within the townsite itself. You can purchase a self-guided walking tour booklet for $3 (from the 501(c)3 non-profit, Bodie Foundation) to use when touring the town. Proceeds from the purchase of the booklet go toward the stabilization and maintenance of the town’s buildings. This booklet identifies all the buildings and, very comprehensively, provides information about the history of the town and its buildings. I highly recommend that you purchase this booklet.
During the prime visiting season (late May-October), rangers give scheduled history talks and tours of the Stamp Mill ($6).
During its heyday, the Miners Hall, the trade union building, was a hub of social activity where dances, concerts, school performances, etc. as well as union activities took place. Today, it houses a museum of artifacts, a small gift shop and is where you purchase Stamp Mill Tour tickets. The museum is open during the main tourist season. There is also an excellent documentary film that runs in the Red Barn. It tells the story of Bodie giving a real sense of what the place was like. I found it well worth taking the time to watch.
Although you can’t go into any of the other buildings, you are free to wander the streets, peer through windows and take as many photos as you wish. Your leashed canine friend is welcome to accompany your wanderings (except on the Stamp Mill tour).
You can spend hours (I did!) looking at artifacts from different eras such as cars, trucks, wagons, etc.
An original horse hitching post from 1879.
Is it worth the effort to go to such an out of the way place as Bodie? In my opinion, absolutely!
Further Information Resources:
Western Mining History: Bodie California – has historical information and great historical photographs
Bodie State Historic Park – Bodie, California – a website with everything Bodie including history, trip planning, etc. maintained by the Bodie Foundation
The Official Bodie State Park Website
The Park Brochure – a pdf of the official state park brochure
Bodie Boom Town-Gold Town: The Last of California’s Old-Time Mining Camps – a short book about the town with historical photos
Mark Twain’s Roughing It – although this book is not about Bodie, it is a somewhat autobiographical work written about Mark Twain’s (Samuel Clemens) time living in western gold rush towns. I had read this book many years ago and listened to the audio book throughout my recent trip in the eastern Sierra. It added a real flavor to my drive!
Very interesting read Arlene especially since our son is a gold mine inspector in Dawson City, Yukon. He was just here for a visit and was telling us some interesting facts about what is happening in the mines these days.
That is very cool. Dawson City is one of those famous gold places. Is he a geologist or engineer?