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| Landmark #341 | Mono County | Visited: Sept. 30, 2012 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | Bodie State Historic Park! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: Gold was discovered here in 1859 by Wm. S. Bodey, after whom the town was named, and the town became the most thriving metropolis of the Mono country. Bodie’s mines produced gold valued at more than 100 million dollars. Today a state park, Bodie is one of the best known of the west’s “ghost towns.”
OTHER TIDBITS: This was a quartz gold mine, with huge blocks of quartz hauled from the mine to the mill via Andrew Halliday’s fabulous gondola system. Workers then fed it into a crushing machine called a “grizzly,” since its units of measurement were equal to the distance between a grizzly bear’s claws! I guess this was because there were more bears than rulers in the town of Bodie! Bodie was known for its bad men. A common question asked of neighbors in the morning was “Do we have a man for breakfast?” meaning “Was anyone killed last night?” Theft, on the other hand, was pretty uncommon because gold nuggets are very heavy and difficult to steal. Violence against innocent people and against women were also surprisingly uncommon. Women in particular were a rare presence in Bodie and were generally treated with great care. Anyone who was a drunken brawler, however, was liable for a beating before morning came around. This landmark is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Bodie State Historic Park On State Hwy 270, 12.8 mi E of State Hwy 395 (P.M. 69.8) 19.8 mi SE of Bridgeport, CA 93517 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~369mi (594km) — 6.2hrs |
| When should I go? | The park is open from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM between March and November, and from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM the rest of the year! |
