Bodie, California
An old Ghost Town
California State Historic Park
After our climb up White Mountain Peak yesterday, we decided to take our time driving back home and stop at a few places that we found interesting along the way. Chris mentioned the old town of Bodie. I had never heard of it and thought touring this old Ghost Town sounded like fun.
We once again found ourselves on another dirt road... Thankfully this one was only 3 miles long. We found that if you drive 30 mph, the washboard ruts in the road aren't quite so bumpy.
We arrived a little before the park opened and appeared eager as we were first in line. There is so much history here and many structures are just as they were many years ago. Can't wait to see them!
The admission is $8 per person and you can buy a tour book that describes all of the buildings and some history of the town for another $2.
It was interesting to learn that at one time when this town was booming, there were as many as 10,000 people that lived here. There was a large fire in 1932 that burned many of the original structures from the 1800's.
We waited until the park opened parked and began to poke around a bit. In true adventurer fashion, decided to stay off the main path and tour the grounds in the opposite direction of everyone else. We encountered a few interesting items along the way.
This is the Bodie Jail.
Chris is driving... vroom, vroom!!
The bank. The walls are very thick with a heavy metal door.
I love all the details in the door
The large safe is still intact. It was built right into the building.
Bodie as seen from the West.
Looking down through town.
Many of the rooftops and walls were covered in canvas as well as this metal. It appeared to be old cans with the ends cut off and pounded out flat.
An old Lipton tea can
This car looked like it had broken down in front of this house in it's final resting spot. Several things have been added which made it appear to be a place where children once played. Notice the large round drum in the front engine compartment. There is a steering wheel that also doesn't belong to this car and a few other items. What a cool place for a kid to play.
The old school house
You can imagine children in here absorbing all kinds of information.
A world globe and books still in their place in the classroom
A bar and post office on the left and the odd fellow IOOF hall on the right. The lodge used the top floor and the bottom floor became the Bodie Athletic Club.
Caskets and other items used in burials.
Bodie Methodist Church
We spent some time up on the hillside touring the cemetery. It is interesting to see that people in this Era did not live long. There was also a surprising amount of children buried here, many of them seemed to be around 3 years old. The last person was buried here in 2003. The last surviving resident of Bodie, California. What an interesting town. We were here for a couple of hours and probably only saw 1/3 of it. This would be a great place to bring the kids back to and plan on spending a little more time.
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