Bodie - California 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”. Many people are interested in Bodie and schools, universities, and accredited online colleges touch on the subject of its history. 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.