Bodie Ghost Town
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"A Ghost Town that Lives on
W.S. Bodie discovered gold here back in 1859. Unfortunately he died in a
snow storm that winter and never saw the town that took on his name. Over
the years, Bodie has seen numerous booms...and busts. There were some huge
gold strikes here and, at one point, the town had nearly 10,000 residents.
By 1882 though, the big strikes were mostly history and the folks began
to go elsewhere.
Today Bodie is one of the largest and best preserved ghost towns in the
West. Over 170 buildings remain and what the California Department of Parks
and Recreations calls a state of "arrested decay." It is, without a doubt,
a photographer's paradise. History buffs and fans of the old West will find
walking through Bodie a remarkable experience".
Calico
Ghost Town - More than a century ago, the town of
Calico was bustling with prospectors.
Founded in March 1881, it grew to a population of 1,200 with 22 saloons
and more than 500 mines. Silver was king, and the Calico Mining District
became one of the richest in California, producing $86 million in silver,
$45 million in borax and, of course, gold. After 1907, when silver prices
dropped and borax mining moved to Death Valley, Calico became a ghost town". Cerro Gordo
Ghost Town - Cerro Gordo, Spanish for "Fat Hill" ,was a silver mining
city high in the Inyo Mountains of Owens Valley. Cerro Gordo's major development
took place in the early 1870s primarily by Mortimer Belshaw and Victor Beaudry.
By 1872, the town was producing 100 to 150 83-pound bars of silver- lead
each day. These bars, called "loaves" because of their resemblance to loaves
of bread, were shipped in huge wagons to the nearest ocean port city, which
happened to be Los Angeles.
1870s silver mining town. A number of buildings are still standing. Chrysopolis
Ghost Town - Chrysopolis, along with the nearby townsite of Black
Rock, came into being as among the earliest of eastern California's Owens
Valley settlements in 1863. Chrysopolis, as well as contemporaries San Carlos
and Bend City, sprung up on the arid and wild eastern side of the Owens
Valley, nestled among the footwall of the imposing Inyo Range. The town
briefly flourished, but soon dwindled due to isolation and constant Indian
troubles until Fort Independence was established. Death Valley Ghost Towns - Overview of several ghost towns
in and around Death Valley. Locke - Ghost town in the Sacramento
River delta. - "Locke was founded in 1915 after a fire broke out in the
Chinese section of nearby Walnut Grove. The Chinese who lived in that area
decided that it was time to establish a town of their own. A committee of
Chinese merchants, led by Lee Bing, was formed. They approached land owner
George Locke and inquired if they could build on his land. An agreement
was reached. The town was laid out by Chinese architects and industrious
building ensued. The founding of Lockeport, later 'Locke', was a reality".
Montgomery
City - "California's Mono County contains a generous number of ghost
towns, including the premiere ghost town of
Bodie. But only 41 air
miles southeast of Bodie lays a ghostly site that is, for the most part
forgotten, a town that was a contemporary of Bodie's earliest days. That
site is Montgomery City". Pollardville
- 10464 N. Hwy 99 - Stockton, CA - Tel:(209)931-0272 - "Pollardville is
a combination 1800's ghost town and museum. Open to the public, it includes
the entire set from the 1957 film THE BIG COUNTRY and many historic buildings
from California's Gold Country. With guided tours, train rides and
fishing for the children, Pollardville is a great place for family fun". Skidoo- Western Death Valley National Park - Inyo County
NE of Ridgecrest East of Hwy.395, just off Hwy.190, via Wildrose Rd. to
Skidoo turn off. Chloride City
- In Death Valley - The history of this area goes back to 1871 when A. J.
Franklin discovered silver ore. Legend has it that he picked up a rock to
kill a rattlesnake and found the silver. In 1873 Franklin shut his mine
down due to the expense of transporting the ore out of the area. Leadfield
- The ghost town of Leadfield was the most recent arrival in the list of
Death Valley ghost towns. It is also the most controversial of the area
ghost towns. The town boomed from 1926-1927. Rhyolite- "This is a ghost town located on the east side of Death Valley National
Park. The road to the site is paved and interpretive signs show visitors
what the town used to look like. Many of the old buildings are in poor condition
and bricks of some structures are perilously close to falling. Stay away
from the buildings when visiting this site". Once the biggest town in Death
Valley.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ghost Towns & Mining Camps - "Its fun to explore old Ghost
Towns, to discover the strange machines and neat relics left behind, peer
into an old mine shaft, reflect about the people who lived there, pause
over an old grave, or perhaps read the inscriptions on the gravemarkers
and shed a tear. But please remember, when visiting Ghost Towns to leave
the site as you found it for future explorers to enjoy".
