The California Ghost Town That's Frozen in Time

As Bodie grew, it acquired a reputation for being a godless boomtown: When the town went one week without a murder in 1881, newspapers jokingly declared it a “quiet summer resort.” A journalist who passed through the community noted, “A general improvement of morals would not be out of place.” Bodie had 65 saloons at one point, but it was late to open a church. Chinese residents converted an old building into a temple in 1880, and Christian residents either held services in private homes or at the Miner’s Union Hall until 1882, when two churches—one Methodist, built by Reverend F.M. Warrington, and one Catholic—were erected. By the late 1920s, the Methodist church was dilapidated, and E.J. Clinton, the head of a local mining company, used his own money to restore it. The Catholic Church burned down in 1928; today, the Methodist church is the last church standing in Bodie.

The Bank of Bodie opened on North Main Street in 1878. In 1888, Bodie business mogul J.S. Cain bought half interest in the bank, and, using the fortune he made from mining, completed the purchase a few years later. Cain was a leader in several local industries, including mining and timber, so the Bank of Bodie likely became a center for business dealings when he took it over. Even though Bodie had a reputation for lawlessness, the bank was surprisingly secure. It was never robbed in broad daylight, though in 1916, $2000 worth of cash, bullion, and valuables were stolen in the night. The structure burned down in the 1932 fire that consumed most of the town. When the building caught fire, a few men rushed to salvage the bank’s valuable walnut counter, only to get it stuck in the door and block themselves from saving anything else. All that remains of the Bank of Bodie is the brick vault pictured above.

On December 22, 1877, a miner’s union organized in Bodie. The Miner’s Union Hall, where the group met, quickly grew into a gathering place for all the town’s residents. In addition to being a place for religious services before the town’s churches were built, the hall hosted parties like Independence Day balls, masquerade dances, and Christmas celebrations. When Bodie’s four fire companies needed to raise money for equipment and uniforms, they threw a “Fireman’s Ball” in the building. The cheery social spot was also connected to a murder: At a ball held there in 1881, Joseph DeRoche danced with Thomas Treloar’s wife. Treloar waited for DeRoche to emerge from the hall and shot him dead in the street. The murderer escaped from prison soon after his arrest, only to be captured and hanged by a gang of vigilantes.

Today the Miner’s Union Hall houses a small bookstore and museum for Bodie’s visitors.

The California State Park department keeps Bodie in a state of “arrested decay.” That means instead of restoring dilapidated buildings, the park repairs and stabilizes roofs, windows, and foundations in order to maintain Bodie’s decrepit, ghost town atmosphere for as long as possible. The Swazey Hotel is a great example of this approach. Purchased by a Nevada rancher named Horace F. Swasey in 1894, it was a place for visitors passing through Bodie to stay in the late 19th century. Later in the town’s history, it also functioned as a clothing store and casino. A large wooden beam has been added to what remains of the structure to keep it from falling over. The old hotel’s lopsided orientation makes it one of the more popular sites in the state park.

This building wasn’t intended to be a schoolhouse. Bodie’s first school burned down after a young boy was kicked out of class for bad behavior. Instead of heading straight home, the trouble-maker allegedly snuck behind the school and began setting fire to some dry brush. The blaze spread to the building, and Bodie’s only schoolhouse was destroyed. Shortly after, the Bon Ton Lodging House was converted into a place of learning, and in the 1879-1880 school year, 615 students attended—its highest enrollment ever. Not all school-aged kids in Bodie went to school—many stayed home to help their mothers with housework, and some of the boys worked on horse or mule teams—so this only represented part of the town’s child population. The schoolhouse was still in use when many of the buildings in Bodie had been abandoned, and it finally held its last class in 1942.