theYear=theYear+1900 Peering over into the water, his murderers saw a rope, but not his body. 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. Oh also, when I originally wrote a lot of this, Bob had deleted his YouTube channel, but as of today, August 6, 2022, he seems to have reactivated his YouTube channel. He had lent this woman $86,000 over about nine months. I always thought that the Goatman was a black goat farmer, lynched by the KKK for putting a sign up on the bridge. 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. Ghost Adventures: Screaming Room will take viewers out of the actual haunted location and into a casual conversation with the Ghost Adventures crew. Well, thats it. Other than that, Bob made a twitter account in June and hes tweeted a lot about an invocation of Zalgo, which I guess is a creepypasta from 2004. However, it wasnt so well-known for a long time. 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. Its original purpose was to carry horses and automobiles across the river. 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. The church is located at 5724 Teasley Lane ( F.M. . Id like to go through a timeline of the Goatmans Bridge legend as its now known. Details of Disappearance. 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. Many who have crossed at night. A second spirit is often said to keep the Goatman company, that of a young mother crying out eternally for her lost child. Other reports tell of a womans spirit who wanders the area, allegedly searching for her lost baby. As far as I can tell, it seems like he made a youtube video about the Old Alton Bridge, wanted to drive traffic to it by posting on reddit, but then for some reason decided to delete it. Locals tell the story and follow it with a warning: those who cross the bridge with no headlights will be met on the other side by the Goatman. By 1856, the small town boasted several homes, a blacksmith shop, three stores, a school, a saloon, a hotel, two doctors, and several lawyers. 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. There has been no activity on Harrod's bank accounts or credit cards since he went missing. The stated goal of, Do you ever read a book so interesting that you gotta tell. "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. 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. He may have done that before 8/6, but thats just when I noticed it, while finalizing the script for this episode. The Ghost Adventures crew is in Denton, Texas, investigating Goatman's Bridge. It might have just been a racoon or somethingbut it was moving in our direction, and we all bolted out of there! 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. 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. This was completely opposite of what the area is like in the daytime. I went there back in highschool with a group of people. It is open only to pedestrians today. According to locals, Washburn's story is likely an urban legend. 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. The bridge and surrounding woods is said to be haunted by a demonic creature with the head of a goat and the body of a man as well as other reported . But all of this is Internet talk, without corroboration, Blair explains. Anyway, what did Bob have to say about this legend? So its just a strange, unlikely coincidence that theres a connection between the dates of the moth man siding and this supposedly disappearance near the goat mans bridge. The 33-year-old college graduate an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes was last seen soon after, walking across a bridge near a place marked End of Road . THE HISTORY of goatman's bridge: November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. Most of the time, county business was held at the Baines residence under the shade trees in his yard. There is a Plano Goat Man legend dating to at least the 70s or 80s which she mentions in the book, but in the subsection about the Old Alton Bridge Goatman, theres no date given for when that legend began. However, when they looked over to make sure he was dead, they could see only the rope. 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. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. For all I know, since they knew each other, they could have worked on the video together, but I dont really have evidence of that so cant and wont speculate. 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. 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). 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. 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). 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. According to legend, a successful goat breeder named Oscar Washburn began to call himself the Goatman. The main highway bypasses it now, but the 135-year-old structure is still visible from the main road. Washburn was never seen again, they say, but a vengeful spirit has haunted the Old Alton Bridge ever since. 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. However, the goatmans bridge is haunted. An honest businessman, his goat raising business was a success. Some believe the Goatman remains dormant for years at a time and awakes only to hunt for prey. 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". But just in case you arent up to date with the moth man lore, basically from November 15, 1966 to December 15, 1967, there were a series of incidents that were said to involve the moth man. Travelers say that if you cross the bridge without your headlights, the Goatman will meet you on the other side. 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 . We are born and bred in The 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. And in the trunk of her vehicle was her cold, bloodied, and decomposing body. 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. When she found out, she threw herself from the bridge, and her spirit has haunted it ever since. If you park outside the bridge at night and honk your horn three times a goatman will appear. November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. 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 the success of a black man was still unwelcome, and Klansmen in the local government turned to violence after he displayed a sign on Alton Bridge: \"this way to the Goatman's\"\r\rOne night in August 1938, with their headlights off, Klansmen crossed the bridge, dragged the Goatman from his family, and lynched him over the side. 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. Whether its Washburn or Kendall haunting the bridge, lots of strange things have happened around the Alton Bridge. Though it is called the "Old Alton Bridge" the community of Alton had already dispersed by 1884. 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. In 2014, after Harrod's family had him declared legally dead and inherited his home, Heeter was evicted. There are no definitive records of Washburn or Kendall, but as a Denton local said, that doesnt mean its not haunted.The bridge is seven miles south of Denton, if you ever get the urge to visit just keep your headlights on and dont knock on the bridge, unless you want to visit with the Goatman. On a dark night in August 1938, these hateful men crossed the bridge without their headlights, then burst into Washburns home and drug him from his family to the bridge. The KKK apparently kidnapped and killed Washburn by throwing him over the bridge. Some say his spirit still haunts these woods. Whenever a sighting of this ghastly figure occurs, a string of mysterious disappearances is sure to follow. Goatman Bridge is a nickname for Old Alton Bridge in Argyle, Texas. Put to a vote in November 1856; the county seat was moved again to Denton. I tried to PM him on reddit on 4/4/22, but he doesnt accept private messages. [1] I chatted him instead. Its original purpose was to carry horses and automobiles across the river. The church is located at 5724 Teasley Lane ( F.M. Please treat the episode audio as the final product. [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. They also relive terrifying encounters and reflect on each discovery from a safer environment. DISCLAIMER: Im providing this version of the script for accessibility purposes. But be warned, the creature is said to appear whenever someone mentions its name. His family doesn't believe he would have left without warning. Although as far back as the 1930s, the bridge has taken on a second, much more sinister nickname: Goatmans Bridge. His channel has also been deleted, and he hasnt posted on reddit under that account since March 4. His living was raising and selling goats. For decades, the Goatmans remained as consistently in use as it had in the 1880s. 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 heavily traveled Old Alton Bridge remained in constant use until 2001 when vehicle traffic was moved to an adjacent concrete-and-steel bridge. With vehicle traffic removed, the bridge became an important link connecting the Elm Fork and Pilot Knoll Hiking and Equestrian Trails. theYear=now.getYear() Their chance finally came that summer. Ghost Adventures anchors Travel Channels Ghostober event with all-new frightening specials. The original video was called The First Goatmans Bridge Video Ever Uploaded on Youtube 2011 YouTube.. Many of his neighbors bestowed upon him the affectionate nickname the Goatman.. 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. [6] The 16-minute, $6,000 film premiered on December 29, 1988 at the Uptown Theater. The monster was the subject of a 1988 film by Louisville filmmaker Ron Schildknecht called The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster. that have haunted our fair city over the years, but a few stand out as truly haunting. The Big Book of Texas Ghost Stories by Alan Brown, published in 2012, doesnt mention the Old Alton Bridge. I really get into it in this one! Both the dog and I heard and saw him, but he disappeared as he made a turn under some bushes and didnt emerge on the other side. 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. [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. [1] Despite evidence to the contrary, stories of Goatman's existence continued to circulate, especially among local students. Harrod got married on June 29, a month before his disappearance, and his new wife, Fontelle Heeter, was about to move in with him, but he vanished before she arrived. 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. Becky Vickers is the author of the book The Secrets of Goatman's Bridge. An African American, Washburn was said to be the target of Texas' Ku Klux Klan in the 1930s, according to Discover Denton. According Driving into the city of Dallas, its stunning skyline immediately catches the eye. Visit the series page for additional sources. 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 panicked Klansmen frantically searched the area unsuccessfully before rushing to Washburns shanty, setting it afire with the Goatmans family shrieking inside, perhaps to bait a desperate rescue attempt by the vanished Oscar. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. 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