20 Eerie Photos From Bodie, California’s Abandoned Gold Town

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 4, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

To this day the concept of the gold rush seems rather outlandish. To think that people from all over the country flocked to the one area of the country that was still relatively desolate and undeveloped in the hopes of striking it big by getting their hands on a whole lot of gold. And the towns that were set up to support this industry almost acted like casinos. Sucking up whatever the miner's made, yet still giving them enough hope that one day they will find that head sized nugget and be able to call it a day.

They were, and certainly are now, towns of broken dreams, lost hope and a period of prosperity that we will only ever get to understand from the history books. But the collection of photos we have gathered today from one of those towns, Bodie, CA, tells at least part of these miner's stories. The hotels they stayed at while in town, the clubs they attended to blow off steam and the religious establishments where they prayed they would find their fortune. 

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  • Disused places of religious worship are especially interesting when looking over old towns. You can just feel the community that used to live and congregate here. You know what they would have wished for (a gold nugget the size of their head) and you get a feel for what it might have been like to live like them. 

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    BODIE CLUB COLD BEER
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  • Honestly, quite the peculiar combination of things, between the advertisement for refreshments and the pull up bar and Olympic rings, this looks like a cross between a working men’s club and a gym. Though it is not unimaginable that after a day down in the gold mines, workers would have come to blow off a little steam with a drink and a pull-up contest.

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    BODIE HOTEL MEALS AT ALL HOURS
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town ghost abandoned creepy nostalgia photos gold california small town
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