Bodie, California
Bodie was for its first several years a gold mining camp of no particular importance. That changed when two of the mines in the area discovered rich lodes of gold ore in 1876 and again in 1878. By 1880 Bodie was a boom town with a population of about 7,000 people, with over 2,000 structures housing them and their associated businesses. Nine stamp mills were shipping gold bullion to Carson City, Nevada, where some of it was sent on to the US mint in San Francisco. The rest was minted in Carson City.
In the short time of its boom Bodie had no fewer than 65 saloons, and it displayed the characteristic lawlessness associated with the Old West. The city had its own Chinatown, just off its one mile long Main Street. Several newspapers were published in the town, and organized volunteer fire departments served to protect its mostly wooden buildings. By 1880, although the mines were still producing well, Bodie’s population began to decline as the hoping to get rich quick miners left for other strikes in Montana and Arizona.
Those that remained continued to work in the mines and the supporting industries and by 1892 the Standard Mine Company had constructed an electric power distribution system which allowed it to power the company’s stamp mill. Still the population of Bodie continued to dwindle and by the 1910 census the population of the town was just under 700. Two years later the only remaining newspaper in town ceased publication. The following year the Standard Mine closed. The 1920 census listed Bodie’s population at 120 people. A fire burned a large part of the central business district in 1932.
By 1942 the only remaining mine in the area was ordered closed by the US government as a war measure, and the post office was closed in Bodie the same year. Bodie businessman James Stuart Cain bought many of the town’s lots and buildings as they came available, and as the dangers of vandalism rose in the largely abandoned town he began hiring caretakers to protect his investments. In 1943 only three people lived in Bodie. In 1962 the remaining 170 buildings in the town were designated the Bodie State Historic Park. Today only 110 buildings are standing.
The buildings are in the condition in which they were left, other than the expected decay caused by the elements. Many of the buildings are still supplied with goods, as they were when they were abandoned. Removal of any items found in the park is not allowed. The climate in the region where Bodie is located rates the abandoned town as subject to the second most nights where the temperature drops below freezing in the United States. The amount of snow during the winter months restricts access to Bodie as the roads are closed.