Bodie, California
Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOD : Bodie, California
Bodie, California, is a ghost town on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe. It is located at , at an elevation of 8369 feet (2550 m).3
Gold was discovered in 1859 by prospector W. S. Bodey (also known as Waterman S. Bodey, who the town was named after). Bodey died in November after making a supply trip to Monoville and getting lost in a blizzard.
In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold and a gold rush transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp of few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown.
As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie was famous for its lawlessness. At its peak in 1880, it had 60 saloons. Murders, saloon brawls, and stagecoach holdups were constant occurrences. Legend has it that a little girl, upon finding out that her family was moving there, prayed one night, "Goodbye God, we are going to Bodie."
Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada by way of Aurora, Wellington, and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by an armed guard. Once the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.
In 1893 the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant, located approximately 13 miles away on Green Creek, above Bridgeport, California. The plant developed a maximum of 130 horsepower and 6,600 volts alternating current to power the company's 20-stamp mill. This pioneering installation was one of the first times an electric motor was operated over long-distance power lines.
Bodie had its own Chinatown, which had several hundred Chinese residents at one point, and even included a Taoist temple. Chinese workers earned their incomes mainly from selling vegetables, operating laundries, and cutting, hauling, and selling firewood. Temperatures in Bodie often plummeted well below 0°F, and winds could sweep across the valley at close to 100 miles per hour. Plenty of firewood was needed to keep residents warm through the long winters. Many inadequately prepared residents perished during the winter of 1878-1879, which was particularly harsh.
Today Bodie is the Wild West's most authentic, intact ghost town, even after a fire ravaged much of the downtown business district in 1932. In 1962, it became a state park, and is maintained in a state of arrested decay.
Bodie is currently preserved as Bodie State Historic Park. Visitors can walk the deserted streets of a town that once had a population of somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 people. Only a small part of the town survives. Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Designated as a National Historic Landmark as a Historic District in 1961 and a State Historic Park in 1962, the remains of Bodie are being preserved. Bodie is open all year, but the most comfortable time to visit is during the summer months.
External links
- [official Bodie State Park website]
- [Maps and aerial photos]
- * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
- * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
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