The DeChambeau Hotel is a historic brick building located in Bodie, California, a once-thriving gold-mining boomtown that has since become one of the most well-preserved ghost towns in the United States. Situated on Main Street in the heart of Bodie State Historic Park, the hotel stands as an iconic symbol of the town’s frontier past. Bodie itself, nestled in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains at an elevation of about 8,375 feet, boomed in the late 1870s and early 1880s with a population peaking around 10,000, fueled by gold discoveries. By the early 20th century, the town declined due to exhausted mines, fires, and economic shifts, leaving behind structures like the DeChambeau Hotel in a state of “arrested decay” for preservation. The hotel’s name is often spelled “DeChambeau” or “Dechambeau” in historical records, reflecting variations in documentation from the era.
Historical Background and Construction
The DeChambeau Hotel was constructed in the early 1870s, during Bodie’s initial gold rush period, making it one of the town’s oldest surviving structures. Unlike most of Bodie’s buildings, which were made of wood due to the scarcity of materials in the remote high-desert location, the DeChambeau was built using brick, providing greater durability against the harsh weather and frequent fires that plagued the town. Historical accounts suggest it was erected around 1879, though exact records are sparse, as Bodie’s rapid growth often outpaced formal documentation. The builders are not definitively named in surviving sources, but the structure was likely commissioned by local entrepreneurs capitalizing on the influx of miners, merchants, and families seeking fortune in the Bodie Hills.
Initially, the building did not function as a hotel. As of 1879, its ground floor served as Bodie’s post office, a critical hub in a town isolated by rugged terrain and severe winters that could strand residents for months. This role highlighted the building’s central importance in daily life, handling mail and communications for the bustling community. Over time, as Bodie’s needs evolved, the structure was repurposed into a boarding house to accommodate the transient population of miners and workers. By the late 19th century, it had been fully converted into the DeChambeau Hotel, offering lodging to visitors and residents alike. This transition reflected Bodie’s shift from a raw mining camp to a more established town with amenities like saloons, churches, and schools.
Ownership of the hotel changed hands several times, often tied to prominent local families. In the early 20th century, it was associated with the Cain family, who owned much of Bodie by the 1920s, including mining operations and real estate. James S. Cain, a key figure in Bodie’s later history, is pictured in front of the building in the 1920s alongside Sam Leon, a longtime business owner who later managed the property. After the DeChambeau family departed in the 1950s, Leon took over operations, transforming it into a casual spot serving sandwiches and beer to the dwindling population and occasional visitors. Anecdotal reports from this era suggest the upstairs rooms may have housed informal entertainment, including “girls” working there, underscoring the building’s adaptation to Bodie’s fading wild-west character.
In the town’s declining years, the DeChambeau Hotel evolved further into the Bodie Cafe, operating as a bar and cafe until the early 1930s. This made it one of the last active businesses in Bodie, as the population plummeted from thousands to just a handful by the Great Depression. The cafe served as a social gathering place, offering respite in a town increasingly abandoned due to mine closures and economic hardship. Notable events directly tied to the hotel are limited in records, but its proximity to the Miners’ Union Hall (now the Bodie Museum) placed it near community activities, such as a famous 1880 wrestling match between local Rod McInnis and professionals from San Francisco, which drew crowds and bets totaling hundreds of dollars. While not hosted in the hotel itself, such events illustrate the vibrant social scene around Main Street.
Architectural Description and Features
The DeChambeau Hotel is a two-story brick building, a rarity in Bodie where wooden construction dominated due to the availability of nearby timber. Its sturdy brick facade provided better resistance to fires, which destroyed much of the town in major blazes in 1892 and 1932. The ground floor originally housed the post office and later the cafe, complete with a bar, mailboxes in the lobby, and simple furnishings visible through preserved interiors today. The second floor featured eight modest rooms for rent, accessible via a shared stairwell with the adjacent Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Building. This IOOF hall, built around the same time, served as a fraternal lodge for meetings and, in later years, as a makeshift health club with barbells and primitive workout equipment, and even temporarily as a morgue—reflecting the multifunctional nature of Bodie’s structures.
The hotel’s exterior is plain and utilitarian, typical of frontier architecture, with wooden boardwalks along the front, large windows for natural light, and signage from its cafe era still faintly visible in some photographs. Inside, artifacts like old furniture, bar counters, and abandoned mail slots remain, offering a glimpse into daily life. The building’s integration with the IOOF hall creates a combined complex that dominates a section of Main Street, flanked by other relics like the Miners’ Union Hall.
Current Status and Preservation
Today, the DeChambeau Hotel remains standing in Bodie State Historic Park, managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation since the state acquired the town from the Cain family in 1962. Bodie was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and is preserved under a policy of “arrested decay,” meaning structures are stabilized but not restored, allowing visitors to experience them as they were abandoned. The hotel is open for public viewing during park hours (typically 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer), with interiors visible through windows or guided tours, showcasing its frozen-in-time lobby and upstairs rooms. It attracts thousands of tourists annually, drawn to Bodie’s eerie atmosphere and stories, including local legends like the “Bodie Curse,” which warns of bad luck for those who remove artifacts—though this is more folklore than fact.
Note that there is occasional confusion with another property called the Bodie Hotel in nearby Bridgeport, California, which claims roots in a structure moved from Bodie in the 1920s and previously known as the DeChambeau Hotel. However, the original brick DeChambeau Hotel building discussed here remains firmly in place in the Bodie ghost town, serving as a testament to the site’s authentic history