Bodie, The Ghost Town

******************************************************

******************************************************
Every place in this world has a story… sometimes beautiful, sometimes sad, every abandoned place becomes a memory, a memory that will soon be forgotten if we do not try to keep it alive and discover more of its secrets.

.

.

Bodie is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town from the late 1800′s, located in the eastern slopes of the Sierra, close to the Nevada border. Due to an extremely wild climate, the forgotten city can be very very hot while summer and covered with snow in winter.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Its story began in 1859, when William S. Body (Bodey) found gold here. The mining camp grew slowly from 1860 to the mid-1870s, became a boom town in 1877 and by 1879, it had a population of about 10,000 with 2,000 buildings. Sadly, the boom was over in four short years and by 1882, Bodie fall into decline.

.

.

.

.

At that time, the town of Bodie bustled with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters and prostitutes. It seemd to be known more for its wild living than for its big gold resources.

There was entertainment for every taste: more than 65 saloons in town,’houses of ill repute’, gambling halls and opium dens. In 1932, after a big fire, almost the entire population finally left Bodie.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Today, there are about 200 structures buildings well preserved. Bodie became in 1962 a California State Park and is maintained in a state of “arrested decay”. Although, the ghost town looks almost the same as it did 50 years ago when the last residents left, the streets are quiet now. Only from time to time, the ghosts visit their abandoned houses in the memory of those days.
.

.

.

Photo Courtesy: Mario Polterer, Debra Rostrom and Jon Sullivan

Sources: http://www.bodie.com/ – an extremely interesting website.

*******************************************************

Older Posts

*******************************************************

Share and Enjoy:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Filed under: Weird Pictures

11 Responses to “Bodie, The Ghost Town”

1. Chris, on February 3rd, 2007 at 12:06 pm Said:

   Wonderful photos Alexandra – where do you find them?

   

2. Alexandra, on February 3rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm Said:

   Some of them are from Bodie’s page.

   “Sources: http://www.bodie.com/ – an extremely interesting website.”

   (I usually ask for permission but this time I was so thrilled that I forgot this step. )

   I chose a few because I found them really interesting… but there are many many others . It’s worth visiting both, the website and the ghost town.

   And the biggest part of the pictures you see here are free pictures from http://www.public-domain-photos.com/ taken by Jon Sullivan.

   Enjoy

3. pligg.com, on April 16th, 2008 at 6:27 am Said:

   Bodie, orasul fantoma [EN]…

   Bodie este un oras fantoma american adevarat, fiind un fost oras al celor care extrageau aur din mine. Acum este complet parasit, el pastrandu-se la fel ca atunci cand era locuit….

4. Alfie, on June 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm Said:

   Very good

5. maricella, on December 26th, 2008 at 7:08 pm Said:

   Talk about the good old times.

6. VISIT A GHOST TOWN « Scrambler, on April 19th, 2009 at 9:13 am Said:

   [...] Tip via: Weirdomatic.com Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Bodie & The Eastern Sierras, Part 2Ghost TownsSouth Africa on the CheapWhy the Migrant’s Dream Has Ended in California This entry was written by Scrambler, posted on April 19, 2009 at 6:00 pm, filed under Architecture, Travel. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « TULIPS SEASON [...]

7. VISIT A GHOST TOWN « Scrambler, on April 19th, 2009 at 9:14 am Said:

   [...] Tip via: Weirdomatic.com Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Bodie & The Eastern Sierras, Part 2Ghost TownsSouth Africa on the Cheap This entry was written by Scrambler, posted on April 15, 2009 at 6:00 pm, filed under Architecture, Travel. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « TULIPS SEASON [...]

8. Ciudades fantasma (I): Bodie, en California : Viajes Pasión, on July 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm Said:

   [...] Davestravelcorner; Artificialowl; Weirdomatic; Ezenlaweb Vía: TaringaPosts relacionadosNeverland, ¿Turismo o [...]

9. gratis geld, on August 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 am Said:

   It’s a nice movie location I think..

10. Marlene Affeld, on August 24th, 2009 at 7:53 am Said:

    I am fascinated by ghost towns. Loved your photos and comments. Thanks for the great information. Wishing you happy adventures.

11. Mike S., on January 15th, 2010 at 2:06 am Said:

    It looks as if Bodie has lost its soul…

Leave a Reply