Gold Rush Ghost Town by Aya Okawa

Public Story

Gold Rush Ghost Town

Copyright Aya Okawa 2024

Date of Work Dec 1969 - Dec 1969

Updated Jan 2022

Location bridgeport, ca

Topics Culture, Editorial, Essays, Fine Art, Historical, History, Iconic places, Photography

Summary

Series of photos documenting the interiors and exteriors of Bodie, a Gold Rush-era town that was abandoned with the mining operation failed to discover quantities of gold and the town became unsustainable.

Bodie, California is a now-abandoned mining town in California's Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was founded initially as a gold mining camp in the mid-1850's when the Gold Rush drew optimistic prospectors to California from around the world, and had its peak in the 1880's. The town started to decline in the 1890's, and was first referred to as a 'ghost town' in 1915, though there were still residents living there. At the time of shooting these photos, a number of the houses displayed calendars on the walls from the early 1900's.

Now, the site is monitored by the California State Park service to protect the historical buildings from looters. They preserve it in a state of 'arrested decay' - so the items are not moved, and the dust is left in tact - built up over decades and decades.

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Aya Okawa

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