Bodie: 1859-1962

Images of America: California

by Terri Lynn Geissinger

Nestled amongst the sage-covered, windswept hills of California's Eastern Sierra is the site of one of the most notorious mining towns of the Old West. In 1859, gold was discovered in the treeless hills northeast of Mono Lake. By 1879, Bodie was a metropolis of nearly 10,000 souls and was briefly the third-largest city in California. Excitement was short-lived, however, and word soon spread that the mines had reached peak production. An exodus began, but contrary to popular belief, Bodie was never totally abandoned. People continued living in this curious and beautiful place throughout the 1950s, and in 1962, the California State Parks system purchased the town site. Now stabilized against the elements, Bodie is today known as the largest unrestored ghost town in the West.

Genres: History

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2009

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terri Lynn Geissinger's Bodie: 1859-1962 is a photographic history of the ghost town of Bodie, California over a hundred-year period. (In actuality, there are few or no photographs dating earlier than 1877, when the big gold strike occurred.)

The Arcadia Publishing Images of America series is a wonderful set of books about local history. Bodie, which survives as a California State Park, is a remarkable place to see the Old West as it really was -- and not Disneyfied or prettified. Bodie was a mining town in a particular hostile environment, sitting at 8,375 feet, above the tree line, and subject to horrible winters with heavy snowfall and high mortality rates from pneumonia and stray gunfire.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

About a month back I had read a historical fiction book that was set in Bodie, California during the time when it was booming. I found the information interesting on how it started, what went on during the boom times, and how it became a ghost town. Reading about The Old West has fascinated me. I wanted to see photo's of the town and the explanations behind the photo's. I found some stuff on the internet, but I came across this book and I love this series of books, and so I had to read it. You got quite a bit of pictures, but you also got the stories to go along with it. I was able to see the town in it's heyday and and explanations of what it was, how it came to be, and the people behind it. I'm probably a weirdo, but I love to look at books like these and immerse myself in the history.

[Fred Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book of the history of the gold mining town of Bodie in Northern California. It is now a ghost town and a CA state park with many building in arrested decay.

[Amber Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series isn't too bad--the information in them is always very accurate, very well presented. I just wish at times there was more depth to them--these are very short books. I'd love to see something longer that could explore more of the town, present a map of the town at it's heyday and one as it exists now.