His wallet and keys disappeared with him, but he left behind his gold 1997 Toyota Camry and his eyeglasses. Many who have crossed at night. Also, I wanted to read this excerpt from the site: As most folk tales often do, the bridge takes on newer and more fanciful claims with every passing year. Many of his neighbors bestowed upon him the affectionate nickname the Goatman.. An African American, Washburn was said to be the target of Texas' Ku Klux Klan in the 1930s, according to Discover Denton. DO THE DENTON HOLIDAY LIGHTING FESTIVAL LIKE A PRO, THE MANY FACES OF DENTON'S FINE ARTS THEATER. 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. 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. 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. This series is the true story ofhow I became The Goatman. Old Alton Bridge aka Goatmans Bridge,' is a now infamous old haunted bridge near Denton Texas. Washburn was never seen or heard from again or was he? 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. 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. 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. I have since been able to independently confirm that the youtube channel belongs to someone who he knew, but that it wasnt him who uploaded the video. [1][3], As well, Goatman was rumored to reside in a makeshift shelter in the wooded region of northwestern Prince George's County near the vicinity of Bowie. 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. Most ghosts are given names because we need to feel like we can know them. Later it accommodated automobiles as well. 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. In the meantime, Alton began to die as many of its businesses moved to the new county seat. Well, thats it. In Denton County, Texas near the ghost town that once was Alton a bridge was constructed at the Hickory Creek in 1884. According to legend, if you visit on Halloween and honk your car horn twice, visitors can see Goatmans glowing eyes. They reconnected by telephone after their spouses died and then met in person, and decided to get married only six days later. us, which seems the perfect opportunity to revisit one of Dentons most Legend has it that a demon that's half-man and half-goat haunts the bridge. Take I-35E S/US-77 S to exit 463 and merge into the I-35 Frontage Rd. According to locals, Washburn's story is likely an urban legend. Peering over into the water, his murderers saw a rope, but not his body. The bridge was built in 1884, by the King Iron Manufacturing Bridge Company. They wanted to put up a reward for his safe return, maintain his home and pay his bills. Graffiti reading, "Goatman was here," was not uncommon,[3] and law enforcement would habitually receive calls of reported sightings, albeit with a number being pranks. He had lent this woman $86,000 over about nine months. The bridge also became an important junction connecting the Elm Fork hiking trail to the Pilot Knoll hiking and equestrian trails, reverting the bridge back to its original use of transporting horses and their riders. 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. 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. Authorities don't believe Harrod was harmed by a stranger. Some say the two ghosts are connected, and that years ago, the Goatman stole the young womans baby. The post office closed forever in 1859. Others were totally unrelated, and just seemed to have a keyword that made it come up in a search. We also run the premiere real-estate site in the hill country at HillCountryRealestate.com. He and his son-and-law were getting Harrod's new wife's arrival that day. Some of the posts he commented on were about the Old Alton Bridge, Texas Hauntings, or similar topics. 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. Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, virtual remembrance and fundraising event. 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 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. Regardless of which origin gets told, old timers warn that knocking three times on the trusses of the bridge is an invitation to judgment, since the ghastly Goatman only spirits away those with the bloodlines of Klansmen or slaveowners into the woods for his terrible revenge. Washburn posted a sign on the bridge which read this way to the Goatmans. This action angered members of the Klan, and on a fateful night in August of 1938, they drove their cars across the bridge with their headlights off, took Washburn from his home and family, and dragged him to the bridge. The new bridge straightened out a sharp curve on both sides of the creek and provided additional travel lanes. Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2021. The bridge is located about seven miles south of Denton. 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. The ground was damp and hoof prints should have been obvious, but I couldnt find any!. And luckily for us, the video description was a wall of text almost 900 words long. And also, as far as Ive been able to tell, thats when the Goatman was given the name Oscar Washburn. Alton, now Cooper City, has long been abandoned. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. And in the trunk of her vehicle was her cold, bloodied, and decomposing body. Denton County itself was formed in 1846, and the first attempt at settling the county seat was Pinckneyville (named for the Texas governor). 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. They were later released pending . It isn't clear whether this woman or the debt had anything to do with his disappearance. Apparently, hearing about this, the County Sheriff went out to check on the mans welfare, but found neither the man nor the goats, dead or alive. But for this particular bridge, those feelings may be more grounded than not. contribution from Shaun Treat, founder of the, historical ghost tour. [1] The bridge takes its name from the abandoned community of Alton, which between 1850 and 1856 was the seat of Denton County. Supposedly the video series was going to answer everything, but it never happened, and you cant watch the video this description went with, since it was deleted the day after it was posted, having garnered 39 views when it was archived by the wayback machine. Prior to the new bridge, it was necessary for motorists to signal with a car horn before crossing the single-lane span. Apparently this commenter left a link a website, goatmansbridge.com which repeated the claim with no citation. He never answered. 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. Notably, the article mentions neither Oscar Washburn nor a disappearance in 1967. 714-993-8164. However, no goatman. 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. Dentons most famous spectre is a story handed down for generations with a few variations, and thats the haunted Goatmans Bridge. He was working on repairs with his son-in-law between 11:00 a.m and 12:00 p.m in preparation for his newlywed wife's arrival. These units are usually stressed from tension, compression, or both in order to support heavy loads. . 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. Whenever a sighting of this ghastly figure occurs, a string of mysterious disappearances is sure to follow. Visitors hear hooves beating across the bridge, splashing in the creek below, maniacal laughter, and an inhuman growl that emanates from the woods. 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. , 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. But like I said, theres more than one version that attempts an explanation for a century of recurring frights and sights encountered at the bridge. Goatman Bridge is a nickname for Old Alton Bridge in Argyle, Texas. The tale continues that when travelers crossed the bridge at night with their headlights off, they would meet the Goatman on the other side. Same types of people, same cliche expectations and same reactions tonothing really. Treat has written about numerous local places and personalities at his. 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. 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. KKK, Illustrated in Harpers Weekly, 1872. In February 2022, a "six-foot goat man" was supposedly seen near a village called Staverton, in Northamptonshire. For decades, the Goatmans remained as consistently in use as it had in the 1880s. When approached, the woman is said to vanish. [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. The Denton County location is notoriously haunted by the spirit of Oscar Washburn, or "Goatman," who was believed to be a former . In an account that may go back as far as the 1860s Texas Troubles, some Copper Canyon cowboys lynched a Creole slave goat-herder named Jack Kendall from a tall creekside tree near where the bridge now stands, but ineptitude separated the runaway slaves head from his body. A rash of mysterious disappearances are becoming alarmingly routine on a chilling stretch of road that is known by locals as the Goatmans bridge., https://web.archive.org/web/20100617152737/http://www.goatmansbridge.com/, Weirdly, November 15th 1967 is exactly 1 month before the Silver Bridge collapsed in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. 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. [5][6], The Goatman lore has isn't as well known but there have been some adaptations such as the slimy alien version in the game, Goatman's revenge. 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. I used to be inspired by GAC and big fans of Sam and Colby among many others who are now just making this situation worse for those of us personally involved trying to fix it.This place was relatively unknown before I uploaded the first video about it 12 years ago on Youtube. Please, for the love of all things under the Sun. According to her autopsy report, she was stabbed dozens of times, with puncture wounds all over her head, face, and upper . Gradually, these carriages were replaced by automobiles, which were supported equally as well by the bridges sturdy truss structure. Others report seeing a ghostly man herding goats over the bridge, while others say they have seen an apparition staring at them, holding a goat head under each arm. One of the most famous local ghost stories though, and one of the more terrifying, is the legend of Goatman's Bridge. She asked fellow forum-goers what they thought she might have seen, and there were amazing suggestions. Become a member to support the independent voice of Dallas Becky Vickers is the author of the book The Secrets of Goatman's Bridge. Most who were brave enough to even make the 30 second journey to the bridge, would stand on it (and im dead serious) for a minute or two and would immediately leave, not even bothering with the well-traversed-in-the-daytime hiking trail to either side along the river. Highlights include: Thoughts about how the internet transforms and changes urban legends A little digital gumshoeing Some Mothman easter eggs. An honest businessman, his goat raising business was a success. Next to the church is the cemetery. There is also another variation that predates the bridge itself. [3] The belief is based on the legend of a black goat farmer named Oscar Washburn, who was said to have moved his family to a residence just north of the bridge. However, the county seat was moved once more in 1857, to Denton. 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. The residents of what are now the cities of Argyle and Denton thought the man to be a bit of a loner and rather odd, but no one really knew all that much about him. There are news reports of abandoned cars on the bridge from the 1960s for sure.. 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. Arrival that day hoof prints should have been obvious, but not body. 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