Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Friday, November 28, 2014

Ridicularius, Ghost Towns Don't Really Exist

Or do they?


"It's interesting, isn't it?  The chandelier, it reminds me of mushroom soup." -  Tennessee Williams


SEPIA SATURDAY



Did somebody mention Ghost Town?

Bodie is listed as a ghost town in the Bodie Hills, east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.  Really.
The ghost town officially became Bodie State Historic Park in 1962.

In 2012 Bodie's Foundation Administered 
Protecting Bodie's Future by Preserving Its Past


How Bodie appeared in July of 1962 was captured by
Ronald Partridge, Photographer
July 1962

Back in the day this thriving, adventurous town featured a fashionable Grand Ballroom for numerous occasions. and imported trees and shrubs just for the day during many Fourth of July Celebrations.






Main Street looking north, July 1962.  From left to right, Cafe, Old Fellow's Hall, and the Miners' Union Hall.  Bodie State Historic Park, Bodie, California.







J. S. Cain House, located at Green and Park Streets, Bodie, California.


Also J. S. Cain House



Living room inside J. S. Cain House






D. V. Cain House, located at Green and Fuller Streets, in Bodie.




Staircase inside D. V. Cain House.



Johl House on Main Street.







Methodist Church at Green and Fuller Streets.



Rear view of church.



Inside church.




Typical Miner's House in Bodie, California.



Are you wondering what Bodie was before it became a ghost town?

Bodie began as a mining town in 1859 after the discovery of gold, and naturally it moved quickly into be a sought after boom town.


More to follow on the original name, the people, "The Bad Man from Bodie (well-founded legend) and all about it declining from boom town to ghost town.

See you next week.

23 comments:

Vandana Sharma said...

Time's the ruler!

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Ghosts need places to live, too.
~

TexWisGirl said...

i remember seeing this place on another blogger site, too. pretty cool.

Mike@Bit About Britain said...

Fascinating! I want to go there - looking forward to hearing more. Great photographs.

Cloudia said...

something intriguing about ghost towns!




ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=





Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

I wish I had photos of the ghost town I spent a many summer as a kid, Mogollon, NM. I understand much of main street is gone now since flooding a couple summers ago.

sage said...

Bodie is a favorite place of mine even though it has been 20 years since I visited--I've been there three time. It is high (around 8000 feet) and barren but beautiful.

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

RE Mogollon...found some nice shots online

http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/mogollon2.htm

Little Nell said...

Fascinating: razor-sharp images but eerily deserted houses. That living room with bookshelves intact is especially haunting.

Barbara Rogers said...

Excellent photos of a ghost town...they echo many a voice that's now quiet.

Jeanie said...

Stunning b/w karen. These are terrific.

Anonymous said...

I find it depressing, seeing a town die like that when people have so obviously been putting down roots and hoping to have a good life there. They may have made money from the gold but so sad at them having to leave their homes.

Mike Brubaker said...

Very evocative photos. There was a lot of craftsmanship put into those buildings. Judging from Google Maps current street view images of Bodie, every stick of lumber had to be brought in by wagon from a very long distance away.

Mike Brubaker said...

Very evocative photos. There was a lot of craftsmanship put into those buildings. Judging from Google Maps current street view images of Bodie, every stick of lumber had to be brought in by wagon from a very long distance away.

Alex Daw said...

The portico over the front door of that first house is quite magnificent given the size of the house. I often wonder what it was like for the last person to leave a town. Must be weird.

Max Sartin said...

I spent a month ghost town hunting in the summer of 2008. One of the places my brother and I went to was Bodie, California. It was incredible, we spent several hours there, checking the whole thing out and getting pictures (of course). [http://www.srossi.net/2008/06/DeathValley/day7/Homepage.htm] It was really interesting to see, they left a lot of the furnishings in the homes and even a lot of the goods in the stores. My only issue was that it felt like a museum, and lacked some of the eeriness that the less well preserved ghost towns we saw had.
Thanks for the pictures, and bringing back those memories.

eileeninmd said...

Awesome tour of the Ghost Town! Wonderful series of photos. Happy weekend!

Postcardy said...

It's too bad they couldn't find some other thing to do with the town.

Pat's Posts said...

Brings back many memories of our camping trips and visits to Brodie over the years when we lived in CA A fascinating place,,,

Teresa Wilson Rogers said...

Ghost towns and deserted buildings are fascinating to me. Who lived there, what was their life like, why did they leave? Sometimes we can find out why, but so often we never know and can only guess. Sad.

Pat's Posts said...

not sure my first comment took, here goes again...this reminded me of all our camping and trips to roam Boadie and near by areas when we lived in Northern CA....Bodie still the same, the sands and winters haven't erased it yet

Debbie said...

your images are wonderful!! I would enjoy seeing this in person, it looks fascinating!!!!!

Wendy said...

The Cain house is really cute -- why don't you go fix it up?