BODIE, CALIFORNIA- Gold-Mining Ghost Town. "This is Bodie, or rather the remains of Bodie. Only about five percent of the buildings it contained during its 1880s heydey still remain. Today, it stands just as time, fire and the elements have left it - a genuine California gold mining ghost town. Designated a state historic park in 1962, it is now maintained in a state of "arrested decay." "Bodie was named after Waterman S. Body (also known as William S. Body), who discovered gold here in 1859. The change in spelling of the town's name has often been attributed to an illiterate sign painter, but it was a deliberate change by the citizenry to ensure proper pronunciation. "The town of Bodie rose to prominence with the decline of mining along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Prospectors crossing the eastern slopes in 1859 to "see the elephant"-- that is, to search for gold- made a rich discovery at Virginia City. Th
