The ominously named Goatman has been described by witnesses as a truly frightening sight plucked straight from a nightmare or the yellowed pages of a book of folktales. Throughout the years multiple origins for the Goatman have spread but the one that remains consistent is the feeling that the demon is watching.<br /><br />Listen to all the origins and find . On the other hand, the book Haunted Plano, Texas by Mary Jacobs, which was published in 2018, has a whole section about the Old Alton Bridge, even though it isnt in Plano. When she found out, she threw herself from the bridge, and her spirit has haunted it ever since. He's half-goat half-man. The new townsite was located on a high ridge between Pecan Creek and Hickory Creek and was called Alton. North Texans endearingly began to call him the Goatman. However, the goatmans bridge is haunted. The Klansmen, however, did not exactly follow the due process of the law. One of the more disturbing variations of bridge experiences tells of a man waiting on the other side of the bridge with a goat head under each arm. My sense is that this was the moment when one version of the story was codified into something resembling the truth, at least as far as the internet was concerned. By 1856, the small town boasted several homes, a blacksmith shop, three stores, a school, a saloon, a hotel, two doctors, and several lawyers. This person couldnt find newspaper articles to back up the story, but found where the rumor seemed to have started online. Apparently this commenter left a link a website, goatmansbridge.com which repeated the claim with no citation. STOP..GOINGTHERE..PEOPLE! He was successful, and most of the community was supportive and friendly toward Washburn and his family, but unfortunately, the local Ku Klux Klan was not so pleased. Back in The Day is an ongoing WDDI contribution from Shaun Treat, founder of the Denton Haunts historical ghost tour. They learn about Satanic worship underneath the bridge and hear stories from f. I went there back in highschool with a group of people. The Denton newspaper at the time did an article on a car found abandoned on the bridge." Treat has written about numerous local places and personalities at his Denton Haunts blog, and is forever indebted to the great work of the fine folks with the Denton County Historical Commission and local keepers of history like Mike Cochran and Laura Douglas at the Emily Fowler Library for their tireless work in helping preserve Dentons intriguing past. The Ghost Adventures crew first visited Goatman Bridge in a Season 13 episode that aired on January 14, 2017. Next to the church is the cemetery. A vicious and hateful group of Klansmen working in the local government began to conspire against him, waiting for Oscar to slip and give them some excuse to be rid of him. But be warned, the creature is said to appear whenever someone mentions its name. According to locals, Washburn's story is likely an urban legend. Some people have seen a half-man, half-goat figure, similar to a satyr; this odd account of after-death transformation (if this is indeed the Goatman) bears some semblance to the tale of the Donkey Lady Bridge or La Llorona. Intro for Death at the Goatman's Bridge (Goatman's Bridge Series) Content note for this episode: I will be talking about white supremacist violence, chattel slavery, and racism. A week and a half after he went missing, two of his children filed for conservatorship to get control of his assets. Many of his neighbors bestowed upon him the affectionate nickname the Goatman.. Most of the time, county business was held at the Baines residence under the shade trees in his yard. The legend goes that he had a wife, who died mysteriously and that one night a group of drunken cowboys found the old man out crossing the bridge, herding his goats and drove the animals off the bridge, killing them in the fall. Watch the new and 7th season of BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime! Other strange happenings recorded at the bridge include strange lights appearing in the surrounding woods, along with reports of visitors feeling hands grab at them in the dark, o a rain of rocks pelting them as they cross the bridge. The episode claimed Satanic rituals had been performed under the notoriously-haunted bridge. [2] This bridge is the subject of several ghostlore stories featuring a vengeful ghost. Harrod was last seen at his residence in the 500 block of Carnation Drive Placentia, California sometime between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on July 27, 2009. November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. Washburn was never seen again, they say, but a vengeful spirit has haunted the Old Alton Bridge ever since. But I did find someone with the same screen name as Lelands youtube channel name posting the story on a forum on March 4, 2008, though without the name Oscar Washburn. Before the new bridge, drivers had to signal with their horns before crossing the single-lane bridge, as there was room for only one vehicle to pass at a time. Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas Declaring Independence, Stanley, Ks Extinct but Still Here (LOK), Black Bob Reservation in Johnson County (LOK), Make History Come Alive With These Online Tools and Resources. Liminal areas of crossing can be full of possibility and danger, present injustices are informed by past prejudices, and there are critters like snakes or gators down in the creek that younguns might outta be leery of. The bridge was built in 1884, by the King Iron Manufacturing Bridge Company. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to watch the video that he posted, but I was able to read the video description on the Wayback Machine. [3], Media related to Old Alton Bridge at Wikimedia Commons, Last edited on 22 December 2022, at 05:16, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places portal, National Register of Historic Places listings in Denton County, Texas, Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Denton County, List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas, "National Register Information System(#88000979)", "Denton Urban Legend Put to the Test on Buzzfeed Web Series", "Old Alton Bridge - The Trails of Denton County", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Old_Alton_Bridge&oldid=1128827248, This page was last edited on 22 December 2022, at 05:16. It didnt earn the Goatman title until half a century later, when an African-American named Oscar Washburn settled in the area. Earning his living raising goats, he was soon called the Goatman by the locals. There have also been reports of inhuman screams coming from the nearby woods, or maniacal laughter sounding. Though Commissioners were appointed and directed to lay out a town and sell lots, no records were ever done, and no public buildings were ever erected. Built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the 145-foot long . In a panic, they returned to his family home and slaughtered his wife and children.[4]. The slavers then watched in horror as the headless body raised itself from the creekbed mud, animated by voodoo, and ripped off the head of a nearby goat to replace his own, still dangling in the noose! According to the most circulated version, an African-American entrepreneur named Oscar Washburn and his family tended a farmstead goat herd near the bridge that was renowned for quality meat, milk, cheeses and hides. A rash of mysterious disappearances are becoming alarmingly routine on a chilling stretch of road that is known by locals as "the Goatman's bridge." Constructed in 1884, the bridge connected Lewisville to Alton. Road 2181), Denton, Texas. Become a member to support the independent voice of Dallas I would spend countless hours there and watched all this happen every night from the bridge. But for this particular bridge, those feelings may be more grounded than not. Highlights include: Thoughts about how the internet transforms and changes urban legends A little digital gumshoeing Some Mothman easter eggs. Wow, what a cliffhanger! The bridge first served as a route for riders on horseback. His hobbies include fishing and playing slot machines, and he left behind three daughters, a grandson and three great-grandchildren. Not only is the Old Alton Bridge a picturesque historic site, but it is also said to be haunted by the Goatman, hence the nickname of the bridge. Ghostly figures and strange lights are said to appear in the surrounding woods, as well as reports of visitors being touched, grabbed, and having rocks thrown at them. Best Tales of Texas Ghosts by Docia Schultz Williams was published in 1998 and has plenty of stories of ghosts in the Dallas area, but no mention of Denton County or the Old Alton Bridge at all. Our Texas Hill Country Facebook page is growing by over 1,000 fans per they drove their cars across the bridge with their headlights off, A similar tale to Washburns predates the building of the bridge, in which a group of cowboys lynched a goatherder called Jack Kendall, There are no definitive records of Washburn or Kendall, but as a Denton local said, that doesnt mean its not haunted.. When approached, the woman is said to vanish. Hed had the account since 2018, but the only other visible thing that hed posted was something on a World of Warcraft subreddit. Though it is called the Old Alton Bridge the community of Alton had already dispersed by 1884. now = new Date
Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Visitors sometimes tell of seeing mysterious lights in the area, car doors locking and unlocking of their own accord, and numerous vehicle breakdowns while near the old viaduct. There is nothing on the channel. And, the Goatman is evidently not alone. Shortly afterwards, so the stories go, a family was passing over the bridge at night and encountered the old man, or at least his apparition, standing in front of them, a goats head tucked under each arm. local news and culture, I want answers. The Goatman's Bridge. Some reports describe the Goatman's fur as a deep, fiery red, while others describe his coloring as black as night, so black you can hardly see him as he moves through the edges of the trees. Dentons most famous spectre is a story handed down for generations with a few variations, and thats the haunted Goatmans Bridge. The KKK apparently kidnapped and killed Washburn by throwing him over the bridge. Most notably, one that occurred November 15th 1967. Id like to go through a timeline of the Goatmans Bridge legend as its now known. Dobie describes Sam Bass as a sort of Texan Robin Hood, an outlaw who was apparently well liked and spent some time in Denton County. There are also some other mentions of the bridge hauntings, which arent part of the popular legends now: Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the secondary visits have raised more questions than they might otherwise have answered, including additional photographic anomalies and cold spots on bright, sunny days where the physical environmental data would suggest it impossible. They hung a noose on Old Alton Bridge and, after securing it around his neck, threw him over the side. Ghost Adventures fans are in for a spooky treat Thursday night. He may have done that before 8/6, but thats just when I noticed it, while finalizing the script for this episode. Nicknamed " Goatman's Bridge " by Denton natives, legend says the Ku Klux Klan lynched a successful Black goat farmer there in the 1930s. To this day no one knows exactly how Oscar was able to evade the mobs wrath, but legend holds that the name Goatmans Bridge came about to honor him. I obviously dont know Bob, but from reading this, I get a bit of a sense of self importance from him. One of the most famous local ghost stories though, and one of the more terrifying, is the legend of Goatman's Bridge. Harrod was last seen at his residence in the 500 block of Carnation Drive Placentia, California sometime between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on July 27, 2009. . While the Goatman is said to sleep beneath the Old Alton during the day, he habitually creeps out from under it to hunt for food at night, returning only at the sound of his name. The tiktok account just has the two videos, and it has like five followers so you are missing anything there. There has been no activity on Harrod's bank accounts or credit cards since he went missing. The men dragged him to the bridge where they had prepared a noose. Numerous reports tell of unholy glowing eyes that burn red from the darkness, eerie glimpses of a large snarling Goat-headed man-beast stomping in the wooded shadows, or a frightening apparition of a maniacal Satyr carrying the heads of goats or humans in his hands. The first few years I spent out there it was mostly barren at night, void of all life or cars driving by or people coming to visit. So what I see here, is someone who you know read joined YouTube and made his new Tiktok account within two days of each other and is done nothing with them since. The Sheriffs archives made no mention of the event. Supposedly this was near the location of the bridge. This legend results in the area around Old Alton Bridge being popular among paranormal investigators,[5] such as the crews from Ghost Adventures and BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural. Around 2:30 p.m, his son in-law drove off to Home Depot to pick up supplies. I chatted him instead. I don't bring people out to Goatman's Bridge very often but people always ask me about it. However, the location of the second county seat also proved to be unfavorable due to a lack of potable water, and the state legislature soon directed that the site be moved again. Whether its Washburn or Kendall haunting the bridge, lots of strange things have happened around the Alton Bridge. Local high schoolers often trek there at night, the. The turn of the century brought a black goat farmer and his family to a residence just North of the bridge, and a few short years later, Oscar Washburn was known as a dependable, honest businessman. In this version, an experiment on goats backfires and the scientist mutates into a half man, half goat creature who begins aggressively attacking cars in the vicinity of Beltsville, Maryland. The bridges architectural composition is known as a truss, a visually distinct structure of connected elements forming triangular units. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. The stated goal of, Do you ever read a book so interesting that you gotta tell. DO THE DENTON HOLIDAY LIGHTING FESTIVAL LIKE A PRO, THE MANY FACES OF DENTON'S FINE ARTS THEATER. So, just to be clear: If you google this and find people mention the person who supposedly uploaded the video, that information is incorrect. Built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the 145-foot long bridge would serve area travelers for more than a century. places to stay, tourism, events, lodging, and we feature Texas Hill Country info I tried to PM him on reddit on 4/4/22, but he doesnt accept private messages. There have been four known lynching events of white people in Denton County since its founding, and the reason for white lynchings was typically horse theft. Legend has it that a demon that's half-man and half-goat haunts the bridge. What we started 12 years ago has gotten out of control. If you park outside the bridge at night and honk your horn three times a goatman will appear. document.write(theYear)
Half a century after the bridge was built, an African-American man named Oscar Washburn settled with his family near the bridge. Locally, the bridge is known as Goatman's Bridge, as it is said to be haunted by a half-man half-goat figure called Goatman. Goatman's Bridge is an old wood and steel structure spanning a small waterway between Denton, Texas, and neighboring town, Copper Canyon. Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, virtual remembrance and fundraising event. For years, there was only 1 video on YouTube that even referenced this location or the local Legend until I started posting videos with my evidence of this mysterious places anomalies starting in 2011. It continued to be used until about 2001 when it was replaced with a concrete-and-steel bridge and a new road, which straightened out a sharp curve. On a dark night in the late 1930s, a lynch mob of Kluxers stormed Washburn's shack and dragged the screaming Goatman to their noose waiting on the bridge, tightened the rope around the begging Oscar's neck, then mercilessly flung him over the side. But when they checked the noose to ensure that Oscar had died, they were in for quite the shock: the noose was empty. However, no goatman. Goatman Bridge is a nickname for Old Alton Bridge in Argyle, Texas. Built in 1884 by the King Iron Bridge Manufacturing Company, it originally carried horses and later automobiles over Hickory Creek at a location that once was a popular ford for crossing cattle. I had saved direct links as well as screen grabs of his comments, so I was able to test that and it said that the comments were deleted and then when I searched his user name, it said that his account had been deleted as well. He and his son-and-law were getting Harrod's new wife's arrival that day. His family doesn't believe he would have left without warning. The location has already been featured on Ghost Adventures: Extra Pulses. There is little remaining of the old townsite today, except for the Hickory Creek Baptist Church and the old Alton Cemetery, which contains graves that date back to 1852. of all manners. The Hickory Creek Baptist Church, which continues to stand, was organized in 1855. Due to the great number of unexplained happenings at the Old Alton, the bridge has been the subject of a number of investigative paranormal shows.