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On my travels up US 395 on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, I visited Bodie, or rather what's left of Bodie. Today only about 5% of the buildings remain from the town's 1877-1881 heyday, most having fallen victim to time, fire and the elements. Designated a California State Park in 1962, it is now preserved in a state of "arrested decay." W. S. Bodey from New York discovered gold here in 1859. Mining progressed slowly until 1875 when a mine collapse revealed a rich body of gold ore. Word spread fast and Bodie's boomtown days began. Its peak population ranged from 7,000-8,000. Along with miners and merchants, Bodie attracted a rougher element who gave the town a reputation for bad men and wild times. Bodie's mines produced gold valued at 100 million dollars.

The Methodist Church was built in 1882 and is Bodie's only church still remaining.

Surrey Barn

I.O.O.F. Hall

Hotel

School. One year there were 75 students - the next year 665.




The brick building on the left is the Dechambeau Hotel and next to it is the I.O.O.F. Hall. On the left about a quarter of the way up the hill you can see some white grave markers. That's the cemetery.

Sandi

Great photos....is that road in better condition now? Lyn

Love the church picture Sandi. Won't be too many more years and there won't be much left of Bodie! Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Linda

Lyn, the last three miles are not paved and very much like a washboard. Quite dusty too. Still fun though. I was surprised by how many people there were there. When you want to take pictures of a ghost town, you don't want people in the pictures! It's a ghost town after all. Ghosts are fine, people NOT! I waited and waited to get the pic of the church without people milling around.
Sandi

good pictures enjoyed them
sheila

Yes, great pics, Sandi. Thanks for sharing them with us. Makes me wonder what life was like for the people who lived there...

Golly last time I was there was 1976! My Navy Reserve unit was doing a two week training in Hawthorne and we went to Bodie one weekend.

That's the kind of stuff I like to do! My list of places to go is getting longer.
Did that look like a place for boondocking?

When I was there you couldn't go inside any of the buildings. Is the saloon still there? Still had bottles on the bar when I last saw it which was in the 80's. Sounds like the road hasn't improved since I was there either.

retiredhappy wrote:When I was there you couldn't go inside any of the buildings. Is the saloon still there? Still had bottles on the bar when I last saw it which was in the 80's. Sounds like the road hasn't improved since I was there either.

You can go inside a few buildings Karen, but the majority you have to look through the windows. Is this the saloon you remember? It's inside the Bodie Hotel.

Sandi

avalen wrote:That's the kind of stuff I like to do! My list of places to go is getting longer.
Did that look like a place for boondocking?

I don't believe you can boondock in Bodie Alice. There are several Forest Service campgrounds on the road leading to Bodie however.
Sandi

Very cool find! Thanks, Sandi!

I love ghost towns and learning about the history there and imagining what life was like!

We were there many years ago - hope to go there again some day. I know what you mean about taking pictures - go away other people
We took the car up there - whole road was washboard and dusty then. Car sat in hot sun all the time we were there. Then back into the car over the washboard to the highway.
Once on the highway Bill decided he was thirsty and opened a coke can. One that had been heated and shooken! What a mess - couldn't get the window open fast enough.