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Bodie began as a mining camp following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors. It boomed during the 1870's and 1880's and remained occupied until 1915.

Today, the Bodie Ghost Town is maintained by the State of California as the Bodie State Historic Park and is kept in its current state of arrested decay. The town once had a population of nearly 10,000 people. It is named for Waterman S. Body (William Bodey), who discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. A gold mine cave-in in 1875 revealed pay dirt, which led to purchase of the mine by the Standard Company in 1877. Prospectors flocked to Bodie and transformed it from a town of a few dozen to a boomtown.