At Road's End, Part 2

  I moved out to Arizona in 1990 and it wasn't long after that before I made my first trip to Bagdad. It was probably 1991 or 1992 when I made my first trip there.
  I look at maps frequently and, after I noticed how Bagdad was situated at the end of a highway, I had been intrigued by it for quite some time. You have to actually be heading there to visit Bagdad, you can't just drive through Bagdad on the way to somewhere else.
  The first time I visited Bagdad, I was expecting a rundown, dilapidated mining town, but that is not what I saw. Instead, I saw a very attractive, well kempt town. About 95% of the houses are Spanish style, that is white, or cream colored stucco with red shingle roofs. Some of the commercial buildings in town have red Spanish tile roofs, but the houses have red shingle roofs. I am sure the shingles are alot cheaper. On my first trip to Bagdad, I did not know that it was a company town, though I had my suspicions because of its isolated location at the end of a highway. Seeing the uniformity of the town was my first clue that it was, indeed, a company town. Also, at the time, the supermarket was operated by the mining company. It was called Cyprus Bagdad Mercantile at the time, but now it is operated by Basha's Supermarkets, a Chandler, Arizona based supermarket chain that has stores almost exclusively in Arizona except for one in Needles, California and one in Crownpoint, New Mexico. Even though Basha's operates the store now, it is still owned by the mining company, now Freeport McMoran. Basha's also operates the store in Arizona's other company town, Morenci. 
  The highway into Bagdad, State Highway 96, is known as Main Street in town. In fact, the highway does not actually enter Bagdad. The state maintained highway ends at the city limits and the road in town is maintained by the mining company. I have not been to Bagdad since 2008, but I have heard that the state maintained highway now ends 4 miles east of Bagdad at the junction with State Highway 97. Evidently there were some issues with Freeport McMoran over ownership of the 4 miles of road between this point and the Bagdad city limits. This makes an "end to end" highway intersection if this is indeed the case. Main Street runs all the way through Bagdad and, just past the high school, enters the mine. This is the entrance to the Freeport McMoran Bagdad  Mine. It is the only entrance that I know of. There is a huge, open pit copper mine a short distance west of the high school.
  The principal north-south street in Lindahl Road. This is the road that becomes a dirt road a short distance outside of town and then, beyond that, enters Prescott National Forest and is maintained by the Forest Service. After about 50 miles of tortuous mountain driving, a driver on this road, known as Forest Road 68, can make a connection to another road that provides access to the towns of Chino Valley or Prescott, depending on direction of travel.
  Back in Bagdad, North Lindahl Road is a wide, 4-lane street, but South Lindahl Road is a much narrower, and quieter, residential street.
  Bagdad is completely surrounded by hills and mesas and is bisected by Bridle Creek, which is usually dry. Highway 96 into Bagdad follows Bridle Creek for about 15 miles, crossing it repeatedly. 
  The first time I was ever in Bagdad, I remember seeing a drive in movie theater screen perched on top of Bozarth Mesa, just west of town. The second time I was there, the screen was gone. There is still a dirt road that switchbacks its way up the side of the mesa to the abandoned drive in theater. I have not explored it though because everything around here is owned by the mining comapny, so I did not want to trespass.