Bagdad, California

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Bagdad, California
settlement_type = Town
nickname =
website =


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = California
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = San Bernardino
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established_date =
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population_as_of = 2008
population_total = 0
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population_density_km2 = 0
population_density_sq_mi = 0
timezone = PST
utc_offset = -8
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
latd = 34 |latm = 35 |lats = 0 |latNS = N
longd = 115 |longm = 52 |longs = 32 |longEW = W
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postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 92304
area_code = 760
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blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
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Bagdad is a ghost town in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, United States, located east of Barstow along the former U.S. Route 66. [ [http://www.theroadwanderer.net/RT66amboy.htm "Amboy Area & the Mojave Desert"] at the theroadwanderer.net]

The town was founded in 1883 when the railway line between Barstow and Needles was built.

Once a thriving town along famous Route 66, Bagdad was mostly bypassed by the coming of Interstate 40 to the north. Its fame, however, spread beyond its bypassing. The Bagdad Café was located there and became the setting of both a popular novel and a motion picture (live action for which was actually shot at the Sidewinder Cafe, currently renamed to "Bagdad Café", in Newberry Springs). The action of the motion picture actually takes place in a fictional Bagdad in Arizona.

Bagdad also holds the record for the longest dry streak in United States history with 767 straight days without rain, from October 3 1912 to November 8 1914.

References

Bibliograhiey

* Alan Hensher, "Ghost Towns of the Mojave Desert: A Concise and Illustrated Guide", California Classics Books, Los Angeles (1991) ISBN 18793950

External links

* [http://www.ghosttowns.com/ Bagdad] Webpage about Bagdad, CA with numerous photographs
* [http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gtusa/usa/ca/bagdad.htm Bagdad, California] Brief history of Bagdad, CA
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/jan/18/usa.politics We don't want a war either, says Bagdad, California] Article published in "The Guardian"

Maps