Bodie, General View, Bodie State Historic Park, Bodie, Mono County, CA

Significance: Bodie is a Registered National Historic Landmark, and California Historical Landmark #341. Placer gold was first discovered here in July, 1859 and a quartz vein was discovered in August, 1859; but, though many efforts were made to exploit the area, it was not until 1874 that the great potential wealth of the district became promising. Bodie reached its pinnacle by 1879-80 when the population was estimated at 10 to 12 thousand, and when the production from the mines on Bodie Bluff was at its peak. During all of the productive years the mines contributed from 95 to 100 million in gold and silver bullion; and "highgrading" was carried on so openly that it was the magnet for the worst of the underworld who made "The Bad Man From Bodie" notorious. Because of the remoteness and the rapid exodus of the populace when mining became unproductive the town is truly a "Ghost Town," without a single all-year inhabitant and with buildings typical of a hastily built mining camp gradually falling to ruins. Its final demise occurred after the fire of 1946 destroyed the Klipstein-Rosecrans Mill which had just been restored to operation in a sporadic effort to revive gold mining in face of diminishing returns due to price pegging. Bodie has been acquired (in 1962) by the State of California as a State Park under the jurisdiction of the Division of Beaches and Parks.

Survey number: HABS CA-1918

Building/structure dates: 1839 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1859 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1874 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1879-1880 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1946 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1962 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1892 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1932 Subsequent Work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000213

ghost towns stone buildings gold mining lumber industry fires immigrants crimes excavation electric utilities silver mining prostitution gold rushes settlements hills bodie view general view bodie state mono mono county california bell house william s bodey bodie mine boot hill cemetery bulwer mine bunker hill mine cafe cain museum james stuart cain division of beaches and parks california state park chinatown chinese burial grounds eureka mine green creek hydroelectric plant historic american buildings survey js cain company jupiter mine klipstein rosecrans mill a lewis koue tom leggett maiden lane masonic cemetery midnight mine miners union cemetery miners union hall mono syndicate mine morticians building noonday mine odd fellow hall owyhee mine painto indians ronald partridge charles st george pope porter lumber company red cloud mine siller house standard ore mill stewert house virgin alley ward cemetery wells fargo photo bodie state historic park ultra high resolution high resolution cemetery burial monuments library of congress national register of historic places historical photos australia

1918

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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