Bodie was established as a tiny camp in 1859 following the finding of gold in the hills to the east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, but it wasn’t until 1876 that it truly rose to prominence. A bigger gold mining find attracted more residents, and by 1879 the town had expanded to a population of 5,000–7,000. A ‘ghost town’ designation was made for it as early as 1915, after several strikes drove off miners and the town’s population fell below 700 by 1910. A small number of people lived there until the 1940s, and in 1962 the land was designated as a state park. Today, on most days, visitors may visit the site and witness a unique and priceless illustration of life over 150 years ago.
