Bodie is now an authentic Wild West ghost town. The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 it became Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Bodie has been named California’s official state gold rush ghost town.

Even though only a small part of this isolated ghost town remains today as Bodie State Historic Park, it appears that its citizens simply got up one day and left town. Tattered curtains remain in some of the homes, and the general store is still stocked with goods. There are pool tables in the bar, with remnants of old bank safes and cars to be found scattered about- a far cry from 1879 when more than 60 saloons and dance halls lined the streets. The town went into decline after 1886 as the gold played out and many mining companies when bankrupt. Bodie was essentially abandoned by 1932 when fire destroyed all but the remaining 10 percent of the town’s wooden structures. Today, you can walk the same streets, wander through some of the abandoned buildings and visit those who ended up in the Bodie cemetery.

Additional information on Bodie State Historic Park:

• California State Parks
• Desert USA