Prominent windows front the home of JS Cain. Bodie ghost town, California, USA.

Prominent windows front the home of James Stuart Cain, who was eventually the principal property owner in Bodie, which is now California's official state gold rush ghost town. Jessie McGath built this house for his new wife in 1879. In the 1890s, JS Cain bought it to live there with his wife until the 1940s. Cain moved to Bodie when he was 25 and built an empire starting with putting lumber barges on Mono Lake and transporting timber to support mine shafts, stoke boilers for machinery, build & heat buildings, and cook food. Cain and a business partner leased a block of land from the Standard Consolidated Mining Company which yielded $90,000 in gold in just 90 days. Cain eventually took control of the Stamp Mill though court action and went on to be one of the richest men in town. Bodie State Historic Park lies in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, near Bridgeport, California, USA. After W. S. Bodey's original gold discovery in 1859, profitable gold ore discoveries in 1876 and 1878 transformed "Bodie" from an isolated mining camp to a Wild West boomtown. By 1879, Bodie had a population of 5000-7000 people with 2000 buildings. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Bodie declined rapidly 1912-1917 and the last mine closed in 1942. Bodie became a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and Bodie State Historic Park in 1962.

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Filename: 1507CAL-2766_Bodie-CA.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
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Contained in galleries: USA: California favorites, Highlights 2015, 2015 Jul 5-23: all: Sierra Nevada + Castle Crags, California, California: Sierras: Bodie ghost town - gold rush State Historic Park

Prominent windows front the home of James Stuart Cain, who was eventually the principal property owner in Bodie, which is now California's official state gold rush ghost town. Jessie McGath built this house for his new wife in 1879. In the 1890s, JS Cain bought it to live there with his wife until the 1940s. Cain moved to Bodie when he was 25 and built an empire starting with putting lumber barges on Mono Lake and transporting timber to support mine shafts, stoke boilers for machinery, build & heat buildings, and cook food. Cain and a business partner leased a block of land from the Standard Consolidated Mining Company which yielded $90,000 in gold in just 90 days. Cain eventually took control of the Stamp Mill though court action and went on to be one of the richest men in town. Bodie State Historic Park lies in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, near Bridgeport, California, USA. After W. S. Bodey's original gold discovery in 1859, profitable gold ore discoveries in 1876 and 1878 transformed "Bodie" from an isolated mining camp to a Wild West boomtown. By 1879, Bodie had a population of 5000-7000 people with 2000 buildings. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Bodie declined rapidly 1912-1917 and the last mine closed in 1942. Bodie became a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and Bodie State Historic Park in 1962.