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. But heres what I can tell you: I just searched for him again and I have discovered that he made a Tiktok back in July and hes posted two videos, both of which show a shirtless man wearing a cow mask and hanging out in the woods. Heavy loads were exactly what the bridge was intended to support when the King Iron Bridge Manufacturing Company commissioned it in 1884. 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. STOP..GOINGTHERE..PEOPLE! However, this changed in 2001 when vehicle traffic was redirected to an adjacent, more contemporary concrete-and-steel bridge. Today, it is a popular location for nature enthusiasts and photographers. places to stay, tourism, events, lodging, and we feature Texas Hill Country info 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. Id like to go through a timeline of the Goatmans Bridge legend as its now known. (Especially because I use dictation software for a lot of my script writing!) When they looked down to see if he had died, the noose was empty. Legend has it that a demon that's half-man and half-goat haunts the bridge. 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. Aside from demonic satyrs, a second version of the story seeks to explain the origins of Goatmans Bridge. 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. 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. 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. 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. Although he lived modestly and drove an older model car, Harrod was worth approximately $5 million. He had lent this woman $86,000 over about nine months. To continue reading from the video description: Back to my video This one here is the first of 2 videos that for several years, if you were to search Goatmans Bridge on Youtube , only 3 results appeared -Leland-s, and the 2 you are about to watch in this series. He and his son-and-law were getting Harrod's new wife's arrival that day. Same types of people, same cliche expectations and same reactions tonothing really. 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. 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. DISCLAIMER: Im providing this version of the script for accessibility purposes. 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. On Halloween, if you go the bridge and honk your horn twice, you may see the fiery red eyes of the Goatman. Its just a bizarre synchronicity, because Im only still in touch with two people who I went to high school with, and both of them grew up on the same street as this person. In a panic, they returned to his family home and slaughtered his wife and children.[4]. Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2021. 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. 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. Half a century after the bridge was built, an African-American man named Oscar Washburn settled with his family near the bridge. 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. 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. It isn't clear whether this woman or the debt had anything to do with his disappearance. Goatman Bridge is a nickname for Old Alton Bridge in Argyle, Texas. All rights reserved. He may have done that before 8/6, but thats just when I noticed it, while finalizing the script for this episode. The Denton newspaper at the time did an article on a car found abandoned on the bridge.. Before the new bridge was built, motorists were required to honk their horns on the one-lane bridge to let other travelers know they were coming. In a time predating cars, massive cargo carriages drawn by hefty workhorses became the bridges most frequent users. Ever since that fateful day, several strange things have reportedly occurred on and around the bridge. This was completely opposite of what the area is like in the daytime. Gradually, these carriages were replaced by automobiles, which were supported equally as well by the bridges sturdy truss structure. Most of the time, county business was held at the Baines residence under the shade trees in his yard. [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. 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. Tomorrow ALL-NEW #GhostAdventures Screaming Room GOATMANs BRIDGE pic.twitter.com/Ninb97Zqbo. The site also tells this story about a possible historical Goat Man: In some research we found that in the late 1800s there was a man that reportedly lived out near the bridge, who owned several goats. The bridge takes its name from the abandoned community of Alton, which between 1850 and 1856 was the seat of Denton County. Dentons most famous spectre is a story handed down for generations with a few variations, and thats the haunted Goatmans Bridge. 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. There have been reports of abandoned cars with no sign of their occupants, vehicles breaking down or car doors locking and unlocking of their own accord, and some people have heard hoofbeats around the bridge. The monster was the subject of a 1988 film by Louisville filmmaker Ron Schildknecht called The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster. We also run the premiere real-estate site in the hill country at HillCountryRealestate.com. Legend further holds that the Goatmans Bridge provides a gateway into Hell. 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. 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. Finally, water shortages forced the county seat to move to a new site in June 1848. There is also another variation that predates the bridge itself. It was just me, my equipment, my dog and the Spirits.. who grew more accustomed to my energy presence the longer I spent out there and got to know what this place was, how beautiful it truly was at night, when the rest of the world just came looking for a quick jump-scare or half-man half goat/ghostly headlights/knock 3 times to summon the demon/goat hooves sounds/shadow figure etc (the Legend quickly began to spin and soon I would realize I set events in motion that nobody EVER couldve expected. The new townsite was located on a high ridge between Pecan Creek and Hickory Creek and was called Alton. His case remains unsolved and is classified as a possible homicide. I tried to PM him on reddit on 4/4/22, but he doesnt accept private messages. But be warned, the creature is said to appear whenever someone mentions its name. The episode claimed Satanic rituals had been performed under the notoriously-haunted 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. independent local journalism in Dallas. 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. Today, the Baptist Church and the Alton cemetery are all that remains of the Alton village. 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 . Old Alton Bridge, AKA Goatman's Bridge, in the daylight. They were later released pending . Also, heres a weird synchronicity. 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. When Washburn posted a sign on the bridge that advertised this way to the Goatman, it angered local Klansman. 2023 Copyright Dallas Terrors. However, the goatmans bridge is haunted. Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, virtual remembrance and fundraising event. When she found out, she threw herself from the bridge, and her spirit has haunted it ever since. The Old Alton derives its name from the now-abandoned town of Alton, which from 1850 to 1856 served as the seat of Denton County. , 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. 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. Now, this person said that he didnt upload the video. In a panic, the Klansman returned to the Washburn residence, and killed his family in cold blood. Placentia Police Department
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