We are born and bred in The The Denton newspaper at the time did an article on a car found abandoned on the bridge.. The Sheriffs archives made no mention of the event. When Washburn posted a sign on the bridge that advertised this way to the Goatman, it angered local Klansman. . The Big Book of Texas Ghost Stories by Alan Brown, published in 2012, doesnt mention the Old Alton Bridge. 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. Show more 0/2000 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. But for this particular bridge, those feelings may be more grounded than not. theYear=now.getYear() Tomorrow ALL-NEW #GhostAdventures Screaming Room GOATMANs BRIDGE pic.twitter.com/Ninb97Zqbo. Harrod had planned to put Heeter's name on some of his assets, including some of his properties, but he disappeared before he could do that. 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. 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. Passing over any bridge as antiquated and creaky as the Old Alton, its normal to feel a little unsettled. No Goatmans Bridge legend ever existed or was ever mentioned in any of your Texas legend/myth or ghost story books (even those published as late as the early 2010s.). . . I went there back in highschool with a group of people. 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. 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. Road 2181), Denton, Texas. The person said: "There have been several disappearances on and around Old Alton Bridge. I would spend countless hours there and watched all this happen every night from the bridge. Folks online have said that the video just added some additional background details to the existing legend. Now, Im going to recap a bit of the story about the trickster elements that I originally told in the beginning of this series. Though it is called the "Old Alton Bridge" the community of Alton had already dispersed by 1884. [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. [1][2], Goatman stories originated in the early 1970s but some of its legends are set in the 50s, within Prince George's County, following the disappearances and/or deaths of multiple dogs, which were later attributed to the creature. November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in July 1988 and closed to vehicle traffic in 2001. Called the Old Alton Bridge, sometimes the Argyle bridge, and is better known amongst the locals as Goatmans Bridge, it was first built to carry horses but would later carry vehicles across the creek. When they looked down to see if he had died, the noose was empty. They would pull into the parking lot, get out, turn on all the flashlights and slowly walk towards this bridge to see what this was all about. He had lent this woman $86,000 over about nine months. Oh, also, it seemed like he tweeted a lot in early-to-mid June 2022 and hasnt tweeted since, which also matches the pattern. , 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 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. This change was enacted to correct a glaring problem that had arisen when the bridge transitioned from carrying horses to carrying cars. local news and culture, I want answers. 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. The new site retained the name of Alton and submitted an application for a post office. The original video was called The First Goatmans Bridge Video Ever Uploaded on Youtube 2011 YouTube.. 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. The tiktok account just has the two videos, and it has like five followers so you are missing anything there. According to legend, if you visit on Halloween and honk your car horn twice, visitors can see Goatmans glowing eyes. When she found out, she threw herself from the bridge, and her spirit has haunted it ever since. Aside from demonic satyrs, a second version of the story seeks to explain the origins of Goatmans Bridge. 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. 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. The bridge was built in 1884, by the King Iron Manufacturing Bridge Company. 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. He did reply to a paranormal investigation show with: Anyway, thats what Ive got for this timethe way that Ive traced this story back as close to its source as I can, and the weird twists and turns the story has taken. If history is the self-congratulatory narrative of a community written by its victorious elite, then our ghosts will often problematize and haunt such tidy romanticisms of back in the day. Ghost Adventures fans are in for a spooky treat Thursday night. Finally, water shortages forced the county seat to move to a new site in June 1848. On a dark night in the late 1930s, a lynch mob of Kluxers stormed Washburns shack and dragged the screaming Goatman to their noose waiting on the bridge, tightened the rope around the begging Oscars neck, then mercilessly flung him over the side. November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. 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. And luckily for us, the video description was a wall of text almost 900 words long. What we started 12 years ago has gotten out of control. This was completely opposite of what the area is like in the daytime. Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, virtual remembrance and fundraising event. Goatman's Bridge is the common nickname for what's formally called Old Alton Bridge, an iron-truss span that once connected Denton, Texas, to Copper Canyon. In a panic, the Klansman returned to the Washburn residence, and killed his family in cold blood. Today, the Baptist Church and the Alton cemetery are all that remains of the Alton village. If his name is uttered during the day, he is awakened and is often even more vicious due to the disruption of his sleep cycle, or so the story goes. Some folks online have given a name for the person who supposedly uploaded this video. Later it accommodated automobiles as well. The hateful Klansman then went back to his home and killed the rest of his family. In fact, the only residence that existed was that of a man named W.C. Baines, who established a farmstead long before the designation of the new county seat. However, it wasnt so well-known for a long time. Washburn was never seen or heard from again or was he? There are news reports of abandoned cars on the bridge from the 1960s for sure.. An African American, Washburn was said to be the target of Texas' Ku Klux Klan in the 1930s, according to Discover Denton. On March 4, 2022, a reddit user who I will call Bob (not his real name) posted 23 links to a video and/or a playlist containing a video that he claims contains the real story behind the Goatmans Bridge. The first reports of supernatural encounters on the bridge were in 1938, and many are recounted in the episode. now = new Date Also on March 4, 2022, he got into a few arguments with people about metaphysical topics. Goatman Bridge is a nickname for Old Alton Bridge in Argyle, Texas. In a panic, they returned to his family home and slaughtered his wife and children.[4]. 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. I bet youre excited to find out what happened next! Heeter was packing up her belongings at her home in Missouri in order to move in with Harrod in California, and he was preparing for her arrival and looking forward to it. But when the Night Riders stumbled down to the dark rivers edge to confirm their murderous handiwork, they were shocked to find only an inexplicably empty noose dangling over undisturbed waters. The bridges architectural composition is known as a truss, a visually distinct structure of connected elements forming triangular units. According to legend, a successful goat breeder named Oscar Washburn began to call himself the Goatman. I tried to PM him on reddit on 4/4/22, but he doesnt accept private messages. It didnt earn the Goatman title until half a century later, when an African-American named Oscar Washburn settled in the area. 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. The stated goal of, Do you ever read a book so interesting that you gotta tell. day! In February 2022, a "six-foot goat man" was supposedly seen near a village called Staverton, in Northamptonshire. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. Built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the 145-foot long bridge would serve area travelers for more than a century. 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. Join the discussion on our new social platform Texjas.com! Most notably, one that occurred November 15th 1967. It hasnt been proofread, so please excuse typos. These units are usually stressed from tension, compression, or both in order to support heavy loads. 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, Pinckneyville would hold the title only two years and never develop into a town. 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! In addition to Washburn's story, the Ghost Adventures crew investigated reports of demonic activity on and around the bridge. According to this story, a black goat farmer by the name of Oscar Washburn and his family moved into a home located just north of the Old Alton Bridge. The following is a description of the legend in her own words: There's a bridge in Denton, Texas called Goatman's Bridge. 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. Back in The Day is an ongoing WDDI contribution from Shaun Treat, founder of the Denton Haunts historical ghost tour. 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. A fan-favorite episode in which the crew took on Goatman Bridge will be featured on Ghost Adventures: Screaming Room. The bridge was built twenty-five years later and dubbed the Old Alton Bridge.. 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. In a panic, the mob fled from the bridge. Many who have crossed at night. 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. Ive been told that if I were in a horror movie, A look at a place full of cemeteries, ruins, and ghosts of, http://www.randomconnections.com/paranormal-activity/, https://web.archive.org/web/20100920155235/, http://www.asup-inc.org/oldaltonbridgecase.htm, https://web.archive.org/web/20100617152737/, The Trickster and the Goatman (Goatmans Bridge Series), I went to Goatmans Bridge (Goatmans Bridge Series), This Way to the Goatman (Goatmans Bridge Series), Death at the Goatmans Bridge (Goatmans Bridge Series), Who is the Goatman? 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. According to Micah Carlson Crittendens University of North Texas masters thesis published in May 2020, The Tall Grass West Of Town: Racial Violence In Denton County During The Rise Of The Second Ku Klux Klan: Due to shifts in the public perception of white criminality and lynching as a violation of due process, white lynchings in Denton County stopped in 1880 and never resumed.This meshes with some other older reports I found on the bridge, in which the goatman seems to be white (or at least his race isnt mentioned). 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. A half a century later a legend of a monstrous half-goat, half-man demon was born. For decades, the Goatmans remained as consistently in use as it had in the 1880s. He's half-goat half-man. The Klansman then fitted a noose over his head and pushed him over the side of the bridge. 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