The Gudgeonville Bridge was built in 1837 and is one of the oldest covered bridges in the country of course it did not get its name till later and if you searched the history you would find that they say it is built in 1968. For awhile I have had an interest in walking on this bridge at night and thoughts ran wildly as I heard stories about the Hauntings that occur on it. Thoughts of ghost walking the bridge, a horsemen galloping on its wood planks, and a part of history that most will never get to see had me so anxious just to visit here and now we are able to bring you a story.

Now going on to how the bridge got his name. A Kentucky traveler Obadiah Will  had a mule named Gudgeon which he was going to deliver it to Meadville to someone. He crossed an old covered bridge which was near a settlement unnamed later which became Gudgeonville. Anyhow when the traveler crossed with its mule on the bridge and apparently the mule was not eating well as it may have been homesick. But as he crossed so did a circus underneath the bridge as a Calliope boat played a tune called my old Kentucky home. The mule stopped dead in his tracks dug his hooves in the planks. The traveler some have said beat the mule when he refused to move across the bridge with a wood stick. Later that night Will left the carcass and went into town to get a horse this would be used to remove the mule so he could bury it on the creek side. Later when he came back the mule was missing and till this day you can still hear it screaming and its hooves on the bridge. Also because of this tragedy the traveler hired a painter to paint on the bridge the words Gudgeonville and that is how it got its name. The circus came by again a year later and a sad song was written about the mules demise. So now you know how it got its name and the story about the disappearing mule.

The next next story I want to tell is about a little girl who was walking to close to the cliffs near Devil's Back bone which is the cliffs that are near the bridge and she fell to her death. Her ghost is said to walk the bridge on a moonless night. We did capture a little girl which we believe is her on our investigation of this place. But you can see why anybody can easily fall to there death as the cliffs in the area are high even I slipped down a bank when trying to hide from a speeding car who passed by us.

The last story and probably the most intriguing one of all is tales of a headless horsemen with a black steed with demonic eyes. They say he rides on his horse crosses the bridge and disappears. Of course many bridges are said to have similar tales but many sightings of the horsemen have occurred for the last 100 years. So basically we really wanted to try and have a duel with the horsemen. Although he did not come out we did feel watched and heard some activity from afar as if something was just waiting and watching. Nobody knows who the horsemen even is or if its a manifestation of anger. But they say that the creek that runs through had some tragic deaths in the war of 1812 such as a man who was murdered floating in the creek and even beheading was not uncommon so perhaps there is some relation to this all?

Is this bridge haunted? A big yes we spent about a half hour here we took our time, I even joked around on the bridge a little bit, we walked back and forth and yes we did see figures standing there watching us, heard movement, felt watched, and experienced many cold spots. So perhaps there is more legends on this place then what is written in the story books. When I seen photos of this bridge I said to the team we cannot neglect such a wonderful piece of history plus what came with it was the spooks.

The area has a ghostly feel to it day or night but it really is a beautiful area and place. It is the type of place you take your sweet heart to and carve your names into the bridge and sit by it and look at the moon. One of our investigators grew up near this bridge and she said her name is on that bridge:) but now the bridge has had some restoration done to it and despite its age it still stands creaking away. The only thing that saddens me most is the amount of graffiti outside and inside. But despite its tragic past many ghost haunt Gudgeonville Bridge. One night you may drive through it and here the hooves, see the demonic red eyes of the horseman's steed, or see the little girl who walks lost in the night do you dare try?

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Rick-AngelOfThyNight