One day we drove 160 miles north to the Bodie State Historic Park. This is an old mining town that was designated a state historic park in 1962.
A couple pictures of the Sierra Nevada Mountains as we drive.
Mono Lake by Lee Vinning is showing the drought in the area.
From Hwy 395 we drove 10 miles of road like this…
And the last three miles of this.
The town Bodie is named after Waterman S. Bodey (they changed the spelling) who discovered gold here in 1859. Body died 3 months after discovering the gold when he got caught in a November snow storm while making a supply trip. He had told no one where he had found the gold and it was not until 1876 that a profitable deposit was found. By 1879 Bodie had approximately 7,000 people and 2000 buildings. Bodie boomed from 1877 through mid-to-late 1880’s. By 1930 the population was 228. Then a fire in 1932 destroyed 90% of the town which lead to population of only 80 people in 1940.
In the 1940’s the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land on which the town was located, hired caretakers to protect and maintain the town’s structures. If he had not done this, the ghost town would probably look like most ghost towns of today, just piles of rubble. In 1943 there were only 3 people living in the town.
When Bodie became a National Historic Landmark in 1962 a total of 170 buildings remained. Today Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay with only 110 buildings still standing. The town sits at an elevation of 8,375 feet.
The tin sheds in the background are the Standard Mine and Stamp Mill. The Stamp Mill was built in 1861 and passed through several hands before becoming the Standard Consolidated Mining Company in 1877.The James S Cain Company owned the Midnight Mine next to the Standard and in 1915 it was proven in court that the management of the Standard Company had deliberately and fraudulently tapped the Midnight property. The damages awarded were so great that Cain took over the Standard property.
The Methodist church that was built in 1882 with the last service held in 1932.
This picture of the interior of one of the houses was taken through the dirty window, as were all of the other interior shots, with the exception of one house that was open.
Say Joe, how would you like to start a wash machine restoration from these parts? My brother Joe and our dad used to restore old Maytag wash machines.
These are the agitator and wringer shafts for the wash tub.
This is the James S. and Martha Cain house.
More house interior pictures. The next two pictures were from the house that was open.
In one of the houses we saw these layers of wallpaper. It looks like cloth on a linen backing rather than paper. Sandy had a bit of a scare inside this house. She heard a squeaking noise. No ghost…just a squeaking weather vane on the barn across the street!
These 4 pictures are of the Boone store, warehouse and gas station. The park Ranger told us so much merchandise was left in the store because the owners had intended to return and re-open the business.
The brick building on the left is the Dechambeau Hotel and Post Office. The building on the right is the I.O.O.F. Hall (Odd Fellows Lodge).
The next 4 pictures are of the Wheaton & Hollis Hotel.
They even had a game room.
The hotels kitchen area.
The school house built in 1879 was originally the Bon Ton Lodging House. The first school, located two blocks up the street was burned down by an early-day juvenile delinquent. He must have gotten a bad report card!!
I think this world globe has seen too much sunlight.
Say, Glen and Joe…. Does this wiring remind you of anything?
A couple more pictures of the Sierra Nevada Mountains before closing this post.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy
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