Follow the tour with a lesson about the universe overhead at a Star Stories talk that usually begins at 8:30 p.m. Exclusive Ghost Mill Tour of the 116-year-old Standard Mill.
As you walk through town, you’ll hear stories that bring the ghost town to life. The ghost walk begins at the old church at 6 p.m. But to really learn about Bodie’s past, try to time your visit with the Bodie Ghost Walk and Star Stories nights that happen several evenings each summer. Enjoy the town on your own or take a guided tour. Today 110 structures are protected for visitors to experience and is funded by the Bodie Foundation. It became a state park in 1962 with 170 buildings remaining.
Forty-six years later, it was declared a landmark. In 1915, Bodie was declared a ghost town. The town’s population started to decline in 1880 as men left in search of other mining claims. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. McClinton, the district’s name was changed from “Bodey,” “Body” and a few other phonetic variations to “Bodie,” after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora designed a sign “Bodie Stables.”Īs a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including a Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, a railroad, miners’ and mechanics’ unions, several daily newspapers and a jail. Bodey perished in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see his namesake town.Īccording to area pioneer Judge J. The area was a campsite for a group of gold prospectors, including W. Once a vibrant town of 10,000 residents, it is a state park, a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark.īodie began as a mining camp in 1859 during the Gold Rush. Located less than 5 miles from Redding city center, Shasta Ghost Town is the unique remains of one of California’s busiest towns during the gold rush of the mid 1800s. Old Church in Bodie, California Photo courtesy of Mono Countyīodie is a ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Yosemite National Park.