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Bagdad – Colorado Ghost Town Stories

Bagdad – Colorado Ghost Town Stories

Bagdad – A Lincoln County, Colorado Ghost Town  

by local author & historian: John LaBorde

gs-clifford1When the Kansas Pacific railroad built across Lincoln County, it would put in sites for maintenance of the tracks. Bagdad was one such place. It was a section location for the Maintenance of Way gangs. It was in use by the railroad into the 1950’s.

Today it sits pretty much forgotten as a small dot on the map. According to the US Geological Survey map, there were two locations for Bagdad about a mile apart on the railroad right of way.

At Bagdad there probably was a section house, a couple of sheds, and miscellaneous out buildings. Here the railroad could stock materials and supplies for work on the ROW. Not much is said about this spot or mention if other people lived in the area or if there were stores.

Midway between Hugo and Limon is where Bagdad would have been located. CR 26 goes south of US 40 and 285. Southeast of this intersection is a stand of trees in a gully and on the knoll sits a ranch house. To the south of this ranch about a mile is the rough location of Bagdad.

There is no access without crossing private property. Nothing remains to be seen but the ghosts of the occasional railroad worker passing by.

There were massive herds of buffalo prior to settlement in the area. The sand creek has pools of water and there are buffalo wallows in the area. Indians would camp in the area hunting their mainstay, the buffalo. In some of the local museums can be seen collections of arrowheads found in the area.

Today the ghosts of Bagdad sit and watch the occasional train pass by and in the distance can be seen the highway as travelers whiz past. Cattle now graze on the buffalo grass in the area and breezes of days

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