Bodie, Washington | |
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  Location of Bodie in Washington | |
| Coordinates: 48°49′58″N118°53′48″W / 48.83278°N 118.89667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Okanogan |
| Settled | 1888 |
| Elevation | 2,592 ft (790 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Zip code | 98859 |
| Area code | 509 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1516745 [1] |
Bodie is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States.
Bodie is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) by stagecoach heading north of Wauconda along Toroda Creek (County Road 9495) off Washington State Route 20. Bodie lies 2592 feet (790 m) above sea level.
In 1886, prospectors Tommy Ryan [2] and Phil Creasor discovered a continuous mineralized ledge in the North of Okanogan County, and claimed the area as Eureka Gulch, which soon after became known as Republic. Republic's rapid heyday boasted seven hotels, twenty saloons, nine general stores, [3] and an undisclosed number of brothels. The quality of ore discovered spurred the existence of many nearby mines and townships, including the near neighbors of Wauconda, Washington, and Bodie.
Occupied in early 1888, two years after Ryan and Creasor discovered the lucrative area which became Republic's Knob Hill Mine, high quality ore was extracted, milled and processed right in Bodie until the falling gold prices closed the township's mine and emptied its buildings in 1934, at which time the town had functionally relocated to the Bodie Mining Camp. An estimated US$ 1.2 million in gold was recovered, and it's said that Bodie Creek still runs color. This scenic area, and its related ghost towns, regularly attract historians, mining buffs, and photographers to the slanting buildings, rusty equipment and mysterious log cabins. There is only one intact structure remaining of the original "Old Bodie", a small two story house converted to a storage building with the help of local resident Doug Prichard. The largest, most visible structure still vertical in what is now Bodie, is often cited as a schoolhouse which doubled as a saloon, but local legend disputes the matter. Old Bodie has also been confused with an assembly of cabins North of the Bodie Mining Camp, at the junction of Toroda Creek and the road to Curlew, which functioned as a saw mill.
North of Bodie Washington on Toroda Road, is the 1897, five-patent Bodie Mining Company claim, [4] later owned by the Northern Gold Company and Toroda Mines Inc. Toroda Road bisects the appealing remnants of this mining camp, whose apparent ghost town is often confused with the original "old" Bodie Washington. The mine consists of an array of hard rock stopes and tunnels, penetrating a mineralized vein running the length of a ridge rising from Toroda Creek. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources did an in-depth report [5] [6] on this mine, and other properties in the region. Mining operations ceased during World War II, as extraction of essential wartime metals took priority by Government Order L-208 of the War Production Board. A stock certificate signed by president L.S. Kurtz indicates the mine's net worth to be US$1,500,000 in 1903. [7] The Bodie Mine is currently held in quiescence by the Geomineral Corporation. The property has been continuously occupied since its discovery. 48.830569 (Latitude) -118.89055 (Longitude). [8]
The Mine and the related city of Bodie, California, was named after its original claim holder, William S. Bodey, [9] whose eponym was changed as his tent city was underway, as an anonymous sign painter assumed the spelling of Bodie would wear better with time.
"On the Republic-Chesaw wagon road, twenty-four miles northwest of Republic, is Bodie camp, in Okanogan county, the principal property being the BODIE mine. Shipments made to the Granby smelter, Grand Forks, B. C., showed values of $500 per ton. The GOLDEN REWARD group of claims was operated by a company of Spokane men, the mine being under the management of R. E. WILLOUGHBY. An assay of $97 was obtained from an open cut." [10]
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. Large scale mining has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large-scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century, and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass, which closed in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the Camp Bird and Smuggler Union mines, both located between Telluride and Ouray.
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom town in 1876 after the discovery of a profitable vein of gold; by 1879 it had established 2,000 structures with a population of roughly 8,000 people.
Hillsboro is an unincorporated community in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States, located in the southwestern part of the state. It was founded in 1877, following the discovery of gold. The community was the county seat of Sierra County from 1884 until 1936, when Hot Springs became the county seat.
Dog Town is a gold rush era ghost town in Mono County, California. It is located at 38°10′13″N119°11′51″W, on Dog Creek, near the junction of Clearwater and Virginia Creeks, about 6 miles (10 km) south-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 7057 feet.
Caribou is an extinct silver mining town located near Nederland in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. It was named after the Caribou silver mine nearby. The Caribou post office operated from January 31, 1871, until March 31, 1917. The Caribou Ranch recording studio was located several miles away, on the road from Nederland up to Caribou.
In the United States, gold mining has taken place continually since the discovery of gold at the Reed farm in North Carolina in 1799. The first documented occurrence of gold was in Virginia in 1782. Some minor gold production took place in North Carolina as early as 1793, but created no excitement. The discovery on the Reed farm in 1799 which was identified as gold in 1802 and subsequently mined marked the first commercial production.
The Bodie Mine is an inactive, privately owned gold mine in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. It is located within a triangle formed by the town of Wauconda, Washington the original town of Bodie, Washington, and the later ghost town of Bodie, on Toroda Road.
Alamo Crossing is a ghost town in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The town was settled in the late 1890s, in what was then the Arizona Territory. It served as a camp for mining prospectors in the manganese-rich Artillery Mountains, being the only town in the area. After 1918, the post office permanently closed, but the town was only intermittently abandoned, with its founders often present through until at least the mid-1950s. The town was intentionally flooded in 1968 to create Alamo Lake. In 2020, the area of Alamo was revived for mining again, this time for surface-level gold prospecting.
Bradshaw City is a ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. It served as a mining camp from its founding in 1863 until the late 1880s. "Bradshaw City" is the namesake of its founder, William D. Bradshaw.
Wauconda is a small unincorporated community in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. Once a boom town, it has dwindled almost to nothing; it is now under single ownership.
The Mount Baker gold rush occurred in Whatcom County, Washington, United States, upon the discovery of the Lone Jack Mine. The Mount Baker area was flooded with prospectors which led to the staking of many claims both patented and unpatented. The most notable mines staked soon after the Lone Jack are the Boundary Red Mountain Mine, Garget Mine, Gold Basin Mine, Silver Tip Mine, and the Evergreen Mine.
Danville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Ferry County, Washington, United States. Danville is located on Washington State Route 21 near the Canada–United States border, 31 miles (50 km) north-northeast of Republic, the Ferry County seat.
Silver Creek is a mining ghost town in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. The town never had a post office of its own, but received its mail via the Lawson post office. The town is only accessible via unimproved road. Most of the mines were located upstream from the town.
The Republic Graben, named after the town of Republic, Washington, is one of a number of Eocene extensional basins in what is now the Okanogan Highlands. Having been down dropped it preserves a thick section of volcanic and minor volcaniclastic rocks as well as fossiliferous lacustrine Klondike Mountain Formation deposits. The volcanic rocks represent the eruptive cover of the widespread Eocene granitic intrusions in the region, and formerly must have been much more widespread.
Golden is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. Golden was a mining town which was founded around 1887. The discovery of gold in the area led to the creation of Golden. By 1892 more than thirty buildings were located between the mines and Wannacut Lake. The town was called Golden due to the promise continued gold in the area. Golden had a population of 300 in its heyday. The town had a general store, restaurant, saloon and post office along with other false fronted businesses. As the gold became depleted the town became more deserted. By 1910 under 100 people remained in Golden. The town eventually became a ghost town. The depression of the thirties brought some new inhabitants to Golden, but eventually it was deserted. Today little remains of the town.
Ruby is an American ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington State.
Gold Trails and Ghost Towns is a Canadian historical documentary show, created and produced by television station CHBC-TV in Kelowna, British Columbia for Canadian syndication and hosted by Mike Roberts with historian/storyteller Bill Barlee. The show was filmed in a studio which resembled an old trapper's cabin. Mike and Bill discussed prospectors and the history of British Columbia around 1900.
Charleston is a ghost town in Elko County, Nevada, United States. It lies along the Bruneau River just south of the Mountain City and Jarbidge Ranger Districts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and is near the southwest edge of the Jarbidge Wilderness.
Vulcan is a ghost town in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States, approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of the City of Gunnison. Vulcan was a mining camp established along Camp Creek in 1894 and was deserted within thirty years.
Chief Tonasket Log Cabin is a log cabin in Okanogan County, Washington, once the home of Chief Tonasket, born 1822. It is along Washington State Route 21 near Curlew, Washington. Tonasket moved to the Colville Indian Reservation, now the Old North Half in the Curlew area, after signing the 1883 treaty with the United States. Tonasket died in 1891, and the structure was operated as the "Curlew Store" for a period of time by G.S. Helphry and J. Walters, beginning in 1896, supplying prospectors coming to the Okanogan gold rush.
Municipalities and communities of Okanogan County, Washington, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |