Bodie – a town so lawless that in 1881 it was described as ‘a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion’
(a quote from the Rev F M Warrington in the State Park brochure)
Bodie is a former gold mining town, now a ghost town which, as the state park website says, has been ‘preserved in a state of arrested decay’. It looks largely as it did when the last residents left, its buildings still furnished and stocked with goods, offering a unique glimpse into the past.
In a recent post about our California trip, I talked about joining the dots when planning our route. For me, Bodie was definitely one of those dots! I’m fascinated by the notion of ghost towns, seemingly haunted by those who once lived here. And I’m drawn to photographing signs of decay like rust and half-ruined buildings.
The website gives a brief history of the town:
The town is named for W.S. Body (or Bodey), who had discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. In 1875, a mine cave-in revealed a rich vein of ore, which led to purchase of the mine by the Standard Company in 1877. People flocked to Bodie and transformed it from a town of a few dozen to a boomtown. In 1881, Bodie’s ‘bust’ began and the town’s population declined drastically. The town’s population continuing to decline until only a few remained. Mining officially ceased in Bodie in 1942, the final nail in the coffin for Bodie’s township. Two large fires in 1892 and 1932 reduced the town’s remaining structures down to less than 10% of the 2,000 structures that once stood.
Source: Bodie State Historic Park website
The Standard Mill processed ore from the Standard Mine, which was originally named the Bunker Hill mine when first registered in 1861. Most of the inner workings are still intact although you need to be on a tour to visit them.
Bodie today
During its boom years as many as 8,000-10,000 people lived in Bodie. There were over 2,000 buildings including homes, stores, banks, hotels, churches, a schoolhouse and over sixty saloons. The latter might explain those ‘tempests of lust and passion’!
Although the majority of houses and business properties were lost to the two fires mentioned above, 110 buildings still stand in and around the town. And their interiors remain as they were left, still stocked with goods and furniture.
But why were so many possessions were left behind when the homes, shops, hotels etc. were abandoned? Apparently the road in and out of the town was so rough it was easier and cheaper for the people to rebuild their lives elsewhere from scratch rather than take everything with them. Even today the town can only be reached via a narrow winding road, the last three miles of which are unsurfaced, but suitable (in good weather) for regular saloon cars.
Exploring Bodie
Come and have a look around with me, for a Monday Walk back in time …
The Dolan House and Methodist Church
The Dolan House was once home to a Mono County Sheriff, James P. Dolan. He was shot and killed somewhere around Mono Lake on Monday, July 26, 1915. A plaque near the lake commemorates him:
In July of 1915, the peace and quiet of Mono County was shattered when Sheriff James P. Dolan died as the result of gunshot wounds received while attempting to apprehend two outlaws who had terrorized ranchers a short distance from this location. … Sheriff Dolan, the 15th lawman to serve that office since the formation of Mono County, made the ultimate sacrifice with the fearless determination which had been entrusted to him by the citizens of Mono County.
Buildings on Green Street
The Dechambeau Hotel and I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) Building on the left, and Swazey Hotel on the right
The badly leaning building in the photo on the right above served at various times as a clothing store, casino, and as the Swazey Hotel, the name it is known by today. To its right you can see part of the schoolhouse with its small bell tower to call the children to class.
Glimpses of life in Bodie
We spent a couple of hours exploring, but still only covered about half of the site. We made slow progress wandering around as we stopped so often to take photos and peer into the houses, shops etc. which had a Marie Celeste air. If it weren’t for the layers of dust that covered everything, you might think some of the buildings were only temporarily abandoned, still awaiting the return of their inhabitants and the resumption of daily life.
The Wheaton and Hollis Hotel
The schoolhouse was originally the Bon Ton Lodging House but was converted after the first school was burned down. The ‘arsonist’ was a small boy who had got into trouble in class and was sent home. He went around behind the school and began setting fire to the dry brush for fun. The flames spread to the building and burnt it to the ground!
This is the only fire station left standing in Bodie. At one point in time, there were four fire companies here, which were later combined into one company with the four fire houses each serving a different district.
The Sam Leon Bar later became a restaurant, the Hise Restaurant. The smaller building on the right was a barber shop.
A better look inside
While most buildings are closed to the public (so my photos of interiors above were taken through grubby windows!) one house, known as the Miller House, stands open. As everywhere, its rooms are left as they were when abandoned by the residents. Tom Miller worked at Mono Mills for the Mono Lake Railway & Lumber Company, which produced most of the timber used in the construction of Bodie.
Inside the Miller House
The Methodist church and Miners Union Hall are also open, the latter serving in part as a museum and visitor centre.
This church was built in 1882 and was one of two churches in town (the other was a smaller Roman Catholic church, which burned down in 1928). In comparison, there were those sixty plus saloons! The last service was conducted here in 1932, when all but a few families had left Bodie. You aren’t able to walk around inside but can step through the doorway to take photos.
Museum in the Miners’ Union Hall
The carriage in the museum is a hearse and I overheard a docent telling some other visitors that it was so short that most bodies had to be cut in half before being placed in their coffins because the hearse was so small! I haven’t been able to verify that but I did later discover that it was once photographed, far more artistically, by Ansel Adams: https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection/old-hearse-bodie-california-74070
There are also some abandoned vehicles and even an ancient petrol pump, perfect subjects for any photographer who likes rust!
We didn’t walk up to the mill area as we were here too late in the season to do the tour that would have taken us inside some buildings. Besides, I preferred to concentrate on all the stories of everyday life told in Bodie’s homes and public buildings. I was struck by some of the tiniest of details: peeling wallpaper, rusty shingles, damaged bed spring coils.
You can see from my photos that we had beautiful blue skies here, although it was quite cool compared with other places we visited in California due to the elevation (8,375 feet). Because of those blue skies and the warm colours of the old wood and rust, I’ve retained all these photos as colour images. But I plan to experiment with some sepia edits which I’ll share in a future Monochrome Madness post if successful!
I visited Bodie in October 2024
49 Comments
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
I like those abandoned places too, though I’ve never seen one with so much left behind. “A sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion” is a great description. I can’t help thinking that Rev Warrington was a teensy bit jealous.
Paul
Great set of images Sarah. We were in Bodie a little over two years ago. It’s a place so haunting that one wouldn’t be surprised to see the ghosts of a shopkeeper behind a counter or a bartender pouring a whiskey.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Paul 🙂 I remember you sharing your visit to Bodie, it was one of the main reasons I made sure to include it on our itinerary!
Easymalc
Goodness me Sarah. This is right up my street as you can probably imagine. I can’t put into words how much I enjoyed this post, and your photos paint more than a thousand words. Brilliant!
Sarah Wilkie
Aw, thanks so much Malcolm 😊 I can absolutely see that you would love this place and all its history!
harrienijland
Never seen a ghost town; every square meter in the small Netherlands is taken care of. Fine set; the Swazey Hotel is my favorite with it’s little ‘swing’.
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you found this interesting 🙂 I’ve always thought of the Netherlands as very neat so it’s interesting that you confirm that! Bodie is very different to any place I’ve visited in Europe.
Leanne Cole
HOw did you get to see so many indoor places? When I went only one place was open, and most of the other places the windows were so dirty it was hard to take photos. The school ones you have is different to mine, the windows were so dirty I couldn’t do anything with the images. I’m really jealous, you got some great images.
Sarah Wilkie
We only got inside the one house, the same one as you did. The other photos (apart from church and museum) were all taken through the dirty windows. I use that trick of putting the lens right against the glass to try to throw all the marks on the windows so out of focus they didn’t really show, and it worked for some shots but not all. Maybe the light was in a better direction for me and the dirt didn’t show as much? Or maybe I just got lucky and found a less smeary patch? I did reject quite a few shots, and others needed some work to crop out or clean up the worst areas.
the eternal traveller
What an interesting place to visit. I bet that little arsonist ended up in much more trouble than for his first misdemeanor.
Sarah Wilkie
Haha yes, I bet so – the account I read didn’t mention that 😀
Egídio
Beautiful photos. These reminded me of other ghosts town in Colorado and New Mexico. They look like movie sets.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Egidio 😊 Yes, very like a movie set although I expect a film director would want to spruce it up a bit!
sustainabilitea
Sounds like a place I should pot on my list of places to visit. Thanks, Sarah.
janet
Sarah Wilkie
Highly recommended Janet, although judging by Leanne’s post about her visit I would avoid high season as it sounds less atmospheric then
restlessjo
Great photos, Sarah, but it looks such a bleak place to live, from what I can see of the surroundings, despite the blue skies. I’m quite glad not to have been around for the gold rush. Many thanks for sharing, and apologies for my late arrival! We were queuing for free cake…
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jo – yes, it would be very bleak and very cold in winter. Very isolated too which would be why pretty much everyone left when the gold ran out. No worries about a late arrival – free cake just couldn’t be missed!
restlessjo
Smiling xx
Mick McCan
Thanks for taking me back there, Sarah. I’ve been there twice. Lots of interesting ghost towns in the Western U.S. Did you get to shoot any black and white photos while you were there?
Sarah Wilkie
Glad to take you back there Mick 🙂 You’re fortunate to have been able to visit more than once! No, I almost always shoot in colour and convert later, even if I can see that B&W would be effective, as you can never put colour in if you change your mind but you can take it out! I’ve experimented with a couple of B&W edits already and as I mentioned I plan to see how sepia ones turn out. Watch this space …
Marie
Gosh it didn’t boom for very long did it. I can’t believe how much was left behind. I was in Calico many years ago but ever heard of Bodie. I love the Swazey Hotel – how is it still standing!!!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Marie – no, it was very short-lived! I suspect the Swazey Hotel has had some help from the park authorities 🙂
Anne Sandler
It’s funny that two posts from Bodie should be in my mail box this morning, yours and Leanne Cole’s. I got a bit of altitude sickness while there, so I didn’t have such a great time, but enjoyed the adventure. Your images are great!
Sarah Wilkie
What a shame about the altitude sickness! Apart from the fact that it was cooler there (Chris popped back to the car to get sweaters after we’d been walking for about five minutes!) we didn’t really notice it, but I’ve had problems in the past and I know how rough it can make you feel 🤗 Yes, such a coincidence Leanne should post about it today!
thehungrytravellers.blog
Bodie is an absolute parallel with the “ghost town boom town” we visited on our road trip – the town of Calico just off Route 66. Similar tales of debauchery and iniquity, a ridiculous number of brothels per head of population, a boom and bust story where both the boom and the bust are rapid fire. I love the whole story of the gold rush and other similar tales of boom towns in other disciplines, they make for such intriguing history.
Sarah Wilkie
There does seem to be a common thread running through the histories of these towns. I guess a lot of money (or the possibility of it), suddenly acquired, can feed such debauchery!
Jim Earlam
Sounds like a fascinating place, I wonder why nobody ever removed the contents of the buildings?
Sarah Wilkie
It is indeed fascinating Jim 🙂 As I mentioned above, they reckon people didn’t take much with them when they left because it was so difficult and expensive to transport things over the rough mountain roads, and cheaper to buy new ones when they settled elsewhere.
Jim Earlam
Ah, that makes sense
Terri Webster Schrandt
I’d heard about Bodie, but never made it over from Yosemite to see it. I love all your facts and photos, Sarah, especially ones about how quickly it was abandoned and left as if people might return. Amazing what’s left is still standing!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Terri 🙂 I’m sure you’d love it here if you do ever get the chance to visit, and it’s a fantastic place for photography too!
Monkey's Tale
I did a ghost towns tour with a friend many years ago, not Bodie though, I dont think. These towns are so photogenic in their worn out state. You captured Bodie so well in these pictures. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie 😊 I so agree about such places being photogenic!
niasunset
Beautiful, so beautiful photographs and interesting story of this place. Thank you, Love, nia
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Nia 😊
Anonymous
Goodness. This is so eerie, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you – I found it so 🙂
kzmcb
I do love a god Western, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks – this would be a good setting for one for sure!
kzmcb
Apparently it has only been the setting for some novels, but that would work.
bushboy
Quite amazing place Sarah. I love a deserted town left as it was
Sarah Wilkie
Me too, and I know you’d love taking photos here! Thanks Brian:)
bushboy
I sure would 😀
Sue
Brilliant post, Sarah! Yours is th best walkthrough of Bodie that I have ever come across….Sadly, I never got to see the place
Sarah Wilkie
Aw, thanks so much Sue 😊 A shame you didn’t get the chance to visit but I’m glad you enjoyed this glimpse of it – an amazing place!
Sue
😄
margaret21
So interesting to visit these places slightly off the tourist radar. Thanks for this little tour.
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you found it interesting Margaret although it’s actually quite a well-known and well-visited tourist sight! I’ll be sharing a much less well-known Nevada ghost town some time soon!
Sue
I agree entirely