Rustic Accommodations

by Mitch Shindelbower

Title

Rustic Accommodations

Artist

Mitch Shindelbower

Medium

Photograph

Description

Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe. It is located 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport,[5] at an elevation of 8379 feet (2554 m).[1] As Bodie Historic District, the U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes it as a National Historic Landmark.

Also registered as a California Historical Landmark,[2] the ghost town officially became Bodie State Historic Park in 1962, and receives about 200,000 visitors yearly.[6] Starting in 2012, Bodie is administered by the Bodie Foundation, which uses the tagline Protecting Bodie's Future by Preserving Its Past.Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe. It is located 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport,[5] at an elevation of 8379 feet (2554 m).[1] As Bodie Historic District, the U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes it as a National Historic Landmark.

Also registered as a California Historical Landmark,[2] the ghost town officially became Bodie State Historic Park in 1962, and receives about 200,000 visitors yearly.[6] Starting in 2012, Bodie is administered by the Bodie Foundation, which uses the tagline Protecting Bodie's Future by Preserving Its Past.
In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown. Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people.[7] By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 5000–7000 people[11][12] and around 2,000 buildings. One idea maintains that in 1880, Bodie was California's second or third largest city,[13] but the U.S. Census of that year disproves the popular tale.[14] Over the years, Bodie's mines produced gold valued at nearly US$34 million.[15]

Bodie boomed from late 1877 through mid- to late 1880.[16] The first newspaper, The Standard Pioneer Journal of Mono County, published its first edition on October 10, 1877. It started out as a weekly, but soon became a thrice-weekly paper.[17] It was also during this time that a telegraph line was built which connected Bodie with Bridgeport and Genoa, Nevada.[17] California and Nevada newspapers predicted Bodie would become the next Comstock Lode.[18][19][20] Men from both states were lured to Bodie by the prospect of another bonanza.[21]

Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada, by way of Aurora, Wellington and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by armed guards. After the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint there, or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.

Uploaded

March 31st, 2015

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags