By 1879, Bodie had more than 8,000 residents and 2,000 buildings—at least 60 of them saloons. “Mining towns like Bodie are quite distinctive, because they became instant cities,” says ...
After hearing about the discovery, people flocked to the town boosting its population to nearly 10,000 and transforming it from a small mining camp ... and by the 1950s Bodie was deserted.