Old Town of Bodie - Sierras

Bodie, Californlia, is a genuine gold-mining ghost town located east of the Sierra Neveda mountain range in Mono County.  A man named William S. Bodey, discovered gold near a place that is now called Bodie Bluff in 1859.  Alas, the poor man died in a snowstorm that winter and never saw the new town that would be named after him.                                                                                                                         
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n 1861, the Bunker Hill Mine Mine and a mill were established, though the camp was called home to only about 20 miners.  Bodie grew slowly and remained an insignificant mining camp for 17 years. The Bunker Hill Mine and Mill, on the west slope of Bodie Bluff, changed hands several times before being sold to four partners in 1877.  The name was changed to the Standard Mining Company, within months, the partners discoverd a significant vein of rich gold ore.  Profits rose dramatically, and by the end of 187e, Bodie's populatlion had soared to some 5,000 people.  The Stand Mine would yield nearly 15 million dollars in gold over the next 25 years.

Miners, gambllers, nd businesses continued to flood the area, and by 1879, Bodiie boasted a population of about 10,000 and 2,000 buildlings.  Before long, the town supported some 30 gold mines, 65 saloons, numeroous brothels, gambling halls, and opium dens, as well as several churches, a couple of banks, and a school.  Every other building on the mile-long main street was a saloon.

The boom was over just four short years latelr, and by 1882, Bodie had started to decline.  Its population had dropped to jut 3,000 as several smaller mining companies went bankrupt, and people began to  leave the area, searching for better opportunities.

The two significant mines -- the Bodie nd the Standard, merged in 1887 and continued to operate successfully for the next two decades.  While the boon lasted, some 30 companies produced $400,000 in ore per month, estimated at $90 to $100 million.

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