About 3.5 miles from the present-day town of Corinth, in Denton County, Texas, once stood the small village of Alton, which, for a decade, served as the Denton County seat. Supposedly this was near the location of the bridge. So, anyway, starting from this initial rumor that was immortalized in the form of a YouTube video, the new version of the legend started to spread widely. The bridge takes its name from the abandoned community of Alton, which between 1850 and 1856 was the seat of Denton County. For the Kentucky creature, see, Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 17:27, "Legend of Goatman Survives Despite Lack of Evidence", "Maryland's Goatman Is Half Man, Half Goat, and Out for brains", "Famed Goatman Forever Held In Dusty Room", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goatman_(urban_legend)&oldid=1141159056, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 17:27. havent been able to find mentions of Oscar Washburn prior to 2008. Some attribute the work of Satanists who opened a portal for a hellspawn demon, while others say the Goatmans wife is eternally searching for her murdered children. Some people have claimed to see the figure of Goatman, with glowing eyes and. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Signs found around the area clearly denote the special place the bridge and surrounding woods have in the communitys hearts, including one which reads I have many memories of the Old Alton Bridge and I love every one of them, a quote attributed to Wayne Stuart Ryan. Authorities don't believe Harrod was harmed by a . DO THE DENTON HOLIDAY LIGHTING FESTIVAL LIKE A PRO, THE MANY FACES OF DENTON'S FINE ARTS THEATER. In 2014, after Harrod's family had him declared legally dead and inherited his home, Heeter was evicted. But all of this is Internet talk, without corroboration, Blair explains. Travelers say that if you cross the bridge without your headlights, the Goatman will meet you on the other side. Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2021. 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. contribution from Shaun Treat, founder of the, historical ghost tour. The third county seat location was designated in November 1850, about five miles southwest of present-day Corinth on Hickory Creek. It hasnt been proofread, so please excuse typos. His channel has also been deleted, and he hasnt posted on reddit under that account since March 4. In July of 1988 at just over 100, the Old Alton Bridge landed a coveted spot on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as recognition as a Texas Historic Landmark. The new site retained the name of Alton and submitted an application for a post office. They have also recorded the sound of horses hooves crossing the bridge, when there were no horses present and one investigator, walking with her German shepherd dog, has seen a horseman, dressed in dark clothing, galloping toward them, then disappearing, without leaving tracks on the path. The location has already been featured on Ghost Adventures: Extra Pulses. Their chance finally came that summer. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to watch the video that he posted, but I was able to read the video description on the Wayback Machine. According Driving into the city of Dallas, its stunning skyline immediately catches the eye. I would laugh and think to myself (Another one bites the dust I guess) Many times however, I would get lucky and not have a single other person come visit the bridge, OR even a car drive by for an entire night. Earning his living raising goats, he was soon called the Goatman by the locals. But be warned, the creature is said to appear whenever someone mentions its name. 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.. Occasionally, it was rumored that Goatman would venture out to kill a dog or rush up abruptly beating cars with an ax. [7], This article is about the Maryland creature. November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. 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. I want to know what happened to my son." The Goatman isnt just a haunting campfire tale, its also a reminder that an ignorance of our history is no protection from its everlasting consequences. A similar tale to Washburns predates the building of the bridge, in which a group of cowboys lynched a goatherder called Jack Kendall. Notably, the article mentions neither Oscar Washburn nor a disappearance in 1967. With vehicle traffic removed, the bridge became an important link connecting the Elm Fork and Pilot Knoll Hiking and Equestrian Trails. A half a century later a legend of a monstrous half-goat, half-man demon was born. Often the growl will be accompanied by the words, "Get off my 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. Some reports describe the Goatmans 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. They also relive terrifying encounters and reflect on each discovery from a safer environment. So whether the Old Alton is named after a terrifying demon or a particularly resilient goat farmer, the bridge is certainly worth the trip. 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. The KKK apparently kidnapped and killed Washburn by throwing him over the bridge. If youre interested in the moth man at all, youre probably familiar with silver bridge collapse. of all manners. And also, as far as Ive been able to tell, thats when the Goatman was given the name Oscar Washburn. My understanding is that the legend had been circulating for some time, but as I talked about in the first episode of this series, there was a clear difference between pre-July 2008 stories about the Goatmans bridge, and post-July 2008 stories. A few years later, Washburn, having become known as a dependable and honest businessman and dubbed the "Goatman" by locals, displayed a sign on Alton Bridge reading "This way to the Goatman". As of 8/6/22, he had deleted his account completely. Copyright 2008 - The Old Alton Bridge, or more famously known as The Goatman's Bridge, is an old iron-truss bridge just Northeast of Dallas, Texas, near the now uninhabited town of Alton. 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. There is nothing on the channel. "It's like all urban legends because there are actually legends similar to it all over the country," Ghosts of Denton tour guide Shelly Tucker told Discover Denton. All there is is one single piece of information on the about page which is that he joined YouTube on July 15, 2022. The first tragic legend claims that a successful African American goat farmer named Oscar Washburn was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan on the bridge in the 1930s. The following is a description of the legend in her own words: There's a bridge in Denton, Texas called Goatman's Bridge. Local high schoolers often trek there at night, the. 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 . He also mentioned the bridge in a handful of his tweets, but the tweets werent coherent enough for me to glean anything from or for them to be worth reading from here. However, no goatman. Later it accommodated automobiles as well. 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.\"\r\rConstructed in 1884, the bridge connected Lewisville to Alton. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. In April 2019, two persons of interests were arrested in connection to Robert Harrod's disappearance. I really get into it in this one! Put to a vote in November 1856; the county seat was moved again to Denton. Years later, in 1884, long after Alton had died, an iron through-truss bridge was built over Hickory Creek on Copper Canyon Road, south of the old townsite. An attempt to trace the current tales of the Goatmans Bridge to their source: a 2008 YouTube video that contained seemingly new information about the urban legend, including some information that linked the story to the Mothman legends. Although he lived modestly and drove an older model car, Harrod was worth approximately $5 million. The church is located at 5724 Teasley Lane ( F.M. [1], According to some variations of the legend, Goatman is said to have once been a scientist who worked in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Goatman Bridge is a nickname for Old Alton Bridge in Argyle, Texas. The post office closed forever in 1859. The Denton newspaper at the time did an article on a car found abandoned on the bridge.. A second spirit is often said to keep the Goatman company, that of a young mother crying out eternally for her lost child. Though it is called the "Old Alton Bridge" the community of Alton had already dispersed by 1884. In February 2022, a "six-foot goat man" was supposedly seen near a village called Staverton, in Northamptonshire. [4], According to University of Maryland folklorist Barry Pearson, the Goatman legend began "long, long, long" ago and were further popularized in 1971 when the death of a dog was blamed on Goatman by local residents. The bridge was built twenty-five years later and dubbed the Old Alton Bridge.. However, based on a reply that someone posted the next day, the video was deleted within 24 hours. Whenever a sighting of this ghastly figure occurs, a string of mysterious disappearances is sure to follow. It might have just been a racoon or somethingbut it was moving in our direction, and we all bolted out of there! However, descriptions differed on whether Goatman greater resembled a hairy humanoid or a human with the lower portion of a goat similar to the fauns of Greek mythology. Nicknamed " Goatman's Bridge " by Denton natives, legend says the Ku Klux Klan lynched a successful Black goat farmer there in the 1930s. Some of the posts he commented on were about the Old Alton Bridge, Texas Hauntings, or similar topics. Ironically, if you search Bobs username on youtube, the cached metadata on Duckduckgo says USERNAME is resurrected from the digital grave. which is really ironic. Ghost Adventures fans are in for a spooky treat Thursday night. There is also another variation that predates the bridge itself. 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. So this is a person who perhaps at one point in his life felt very inspired by Godsmack, see you can just use that to paint a mental picture in your mind palace of what this person might be like. People saw the moth man around the area and it was said that he sort of presaged the collapse of the silver bridge on December 15, 1967, which is a really tragic incident where 46 people died. My paranormal experiences became a local sensation in Denton, TX and remained the most viewed videos for awhile , even after others began to upload their own experiences. Years later, in 1884, long after Alton had died, an iron through-truss bridge was built over Hickory Creek on Copper Canyon Road, south of the old townsite. now = new Date Though the fledgling town had begun to grow, the location of the county seat was still unsatisfactory for the majority of Denton County residents, who soon petitioned for yet, another county seat one that was more centrally located and again, one with better water. These tales are obviously old, as the bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since 2001. [6] The 16-minute, $6,000 film premiered on December 29, 1988 at the Uptown Theater. I would spend countless hours there and watched all this happen every night from the bridge. Built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the 145-foot long bridge would serve area travelers for more than a century. His hobbies include fishing and playing slot machines, and he left behind three daughters, a grandson and three great-grandchildren. us, which seems the perfect opportunity to revisit one of Dentons most It isn't clear whether this woman or the debt had anything to do with his disappearance. 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. Another variation of the legend holds that Goatman himself was an old hermit who lived in the woods and often could be seen walking alone at night along Fletchertown Road. The video also links to the Association for the Study of Unexplained Phenomenon (ASUP) website (http://www.asup-inc.org/oldaltonbridgecase.htm); the original website is down, but you can still read it on the wayback machine. 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, Ghost Adventures, and Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural among them. In a panic, the mob fled from the bridge. "For the last several years I've given ghost tours on the Square, usually on the weekends. The Goatman's Bridge. According to urban legend, Goatman is a creature resembling a goat-human hybrid often credited with canine deaths and purported to take refuge in the woods of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The new townsite was located on a high ridge between Pecan Creek and Hickory Creek and was called Alton. However, when they looked over to make sure he was dead, they could see only the rope. The bridge first served as a route for riders on horseback. Maverick Kyrie Irving Has a Lot To Learn, Like the Earth Is Round, Dinosaurs Lived and Antisemitism Is Bad, Equal Representation at Center of Dallas' District 1 City Council Race, Students Fight To Change 2 Building Names at UT Arlington, Two Dallas City Council Seats Destined for New Blood, Texas Democrats Double Down on Defending Public Ed. To me, one of the funniest parts of this story is that the witness went on Mumsnet to share her story. 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. Lermon Jones. Legend has it that a demon that's half-man and half-goat haunts 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. 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. Within a few years, Oscar had built a reputation for himself as a reliable and trustworthy businessman and a valuable member of the community. In addition to Washburn's story, the Ghost Adventures crew investigated reports of demonic activity on and around the bridge. More articles and blogs were being published online about the legendary Goatmans Bridge and they all said the same copy/pasted Legend along with some other ones mentioning of it being currently under surveillance by DAPS aka Denton Area Paranormal Society (never heard of or saw them the 1000s of days and nights I would spend obsessing over this place, but ok DAPS). With cars and all their noise safely out of the way, the Old Alton Bridge was free for hikers and nature lovers to pass safely. The bridges architectural composition is known as a truss, a visually distinct structure of connected elements forming triangular units. The Sheriffs archives made no mention of the event. Local legend says if you knock on the steel bridge three times at midnight, or perhaps- turn off your car lights and honk three times in summons, then you dare a visitation from the vengeful Goatman thats preceded by the stench of decaying flesh. However, this changed in 2001 when vehicle traffic was redirected to an adjacent, more contemporary concrete-and-steel bridge. This location did grow, and before long, it boasted a hotel and two stores. The show is currently off season, as Season 18 last aired in November. But its wild that those details have congealed into this almost monolithic urban legend nowadays. Over the years it gained more notoriety as I began to uncover and post more of the mystery, opening thousands of peoples minds in person who came to visit and happened to stop to have a chat with that ghost hunting guy and his beagle always at the bridge. Also, for the record, there have also been reports of the lynchings of white people in the area, so I have seems some older stories that seemed to claim that a white goatman had been lynched. The video makes a number of claims, including this bit, which appears in the viedo as well as the first line of the video description, which has a transcript of the voiceover: November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. However, given the condition of remains, the deaths may more likely have been the result of passing trains. He had no known medical conditions when he disappeared, although he did have some short-term memory problems like being unable to remember phone numbers. We also run the premiere real-estate site in the hill country at HillCountryRealestate.com. 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 legends and mysteries of Goatman's Bridge (including the infamous story of a goatman roaming the forest in search of those who killed his family) and the reports of abandon cars and missing persons make this place one of the most sought-after locations for those in the paranormal field. All rights reserved. (Especially because I use dictation software for a lot of my script writing!) The Hickory Creek Baptist Church, which continues to stand, was organized in 1855. Locals warn that if you cross the bridge at night without headlights (as the Klansmen are said to have done), you will be met on the other side by the Goatman. 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. We are born and bred in The Importantly, he has a tattoo on his belly button that looks a lot like the tattoo that Sully Erna, the lead singer of the nu metal band Godsmack has. There have been some idiots who go out there and dabble in what they think is satanism and try to summon things . I chatted him instead. According to locals, Washburn's story is likely an urban legend. But for this particular bridge, those feelings may be more grounded than not. Then he talks about his videos that he posted in 2009: I take issue with his claim that no legend at all existed, but I have been able to confirm that it seemed to be a much lesser known urban legend (for example, I lived there for years and had never heard of it), and the stories of hauntings seemed more scattershot. Residents making their way over the bridge late at night have reportedly heard her ghostly wails, and others have spotted her crying at the bridges center. Jack Kendall to locals, Washburn 's story is that the witness went Mumsnet. Location was designated in November 1856 ; the community of Alton, which to... 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