The Bodie Ghost town is one of the best preserved ghost towns in north america, it’s located northeast of Yosemite at the border to Nevada, 13 miles east of Highway 395. The town grew 1859 as a gold-mining settlement but was abandoned in 1940 due to the harsh climate by 1879 it had a population of 5.000 – 7.000 people and 2.000 buildings. Over the time the mines produced a value of nearly 34 million US dollars.
In its prime the town had its own Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, a railroad, several daily newspapers, and even a jail. At the peak it had 65 saloons along the one mile long main street. Like many other remote mining towns it even had its own red light district where miners could spend their money made from gold digging. A China town district could be found as well with plenty of Opium dense in the area.
Thanks to the low humidity in the surrounding environment many buildings, equipment and cars remain relatively well preserved. Today are still more than 100 buildings left (including a fully stocked general store). The old Miners Union Hall located on the main street now serves as a museum. In 1962 it became the Bodie State Historic Park with 110 remaining buildings today.
Image by By Moviefan – Jan Klaver, CC BY-SA 3.0
First image by By JLeditor