The town of Bodie was named after Waterman S. Body (also known as William S. Bodey) who, in 1859, discovered what was to be one of the richest discoveries the West had ever known: more than 32 million dollars in gold and $6-7 million in silver. Unfortunately Bodey died in a snow storm that winter while returning with supplies and never saw the town that took his name. The spelling of the town's name was deliberately changed to Bodie in the early years to avoid the name being mispronounced.

The town of Bodie rose to prominence with the decline of mining along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Prospectors crossing the eastern slope in 1859 searching for gold discovered what was to be the Comstock Lode at Virginia City, and started a wild rush to the surrounding high desert country. Bodie became a boom town in 1877. By 1879 it boasted a population of about 10,000 residents with 2,000 buildings, and became known as the "most lawless, wildest and toughest mining camp the Far West has ever known."
The town became more known for its wild living than for its big gold resources. Every other building on the mile long main street was a saloon. Seven breweries were working day and night. The whiskey was brought by horse carriages, 100 barrels at a time. Killings occurred with monotonous regularity, sometimes becoming almost daily events. Robberies, stage holdups, and street fights provided variety, and the town's 65 saloons offered many opportunities for relaxation after a hard day of work in the mines. The Reverend F.M. Warrington saw it in 1881 as "a sea of sin, lashed by the tempest of lust and passion." One little girl, whose family was taking her to the remote and infamous town, wrote in her diary: "Good-bye God, I'm going to Bodie." The phrase came to be known throughout the West. The boom was over in four short years and by 1882, Bodie was in the grips of decline. The rich mines were playing out and mining companies were going bankrupt. Two fires, one in 1892 and the other in 1932, ravaged the business district. Bodie faded into a ghost town during the 1940's. Bad men, like bad whiskey and bad climate, were endemic to the area. Whatever the case, the streets are quiet now. Bodie still has its wicked climate but, with the possible exception of an occasional ghostly visitor, its badmen are all in their graves.

Bodie became a State Historic Park in 1962 and is open year round, weather permitting. In the winter time though, some connecting roads and most trans-Sierra highways may be closed because of snow accumulation. Over 170 buildings remain in what the California Department of Parks and Recreations calls, a state of "arrested decay." Today, with less than 10% of the town still standing, Bodie is still the largest ghost town in the western United States, and what is left looks much the same as it did over 50 years ago when the last residents left.
In 1986 an organization was started called the Friends of Bodie. The Friends of Bodie are dedicated to the preservation of this unique gold mining ghost town. Since 1986 over 10,000 hours of volunteer time has been given to help protect, maintain and interpret Bodie for the visiting public.