Investigation Team: Rosie Miller, Dave Miller
Investigation Date: May 2017
Located within Ohio’s only National Park, the covered bridge, cemetery and road all have reported apparitions. Nearby in the remote woods is an urban legend, a witch’s grave, partially melted from continual lighting strikes.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Rosie & I bicycled the National Park’s historical 19 mile Towpath Bike Trail. It is the original tow path located beside the Ohio & Erie Canal built from 1820 to 1830. The canal is still full of water for many of the miles. On the south end of the park off a spur of the trail is the covered bridge. The covered bridge is patterned after the 1869 Smith Truss design. The original bridge was destroyed by 1975 floods and rebuilt. The private cemetery nearby is dated back to 1847.
ALLEGED SIGHTINGS: Legend has it, the bridge is haunted by the spirits of a local farmer John Gilson who drowned (while his wife watched) in 1877 trying to cross the swollen creek. Locals have heard disembodied voices pleading for help. Witnesses have also reported the sounds of horse’s hooves, a faceless man wearing coveralls and lighted lanterns crossing the bridge. During my research an interesting find. A new road was built just past the bridge which imposed on the Chamberlain/Everett Cemetery property. While digging during road construction, workers unearthed a tomb with skeletal remains which turned out to be a native American of the Hopewell Indian culture 1,500 years ago. Construction crews did not think much of the historical significance and built the new road over the burial ground. Hence locals claim to have seen a ghostly hitch hiker on that road. The cemetery next to the bridge & new road was abandoned with only a few bodies removed. Nearby is a creepy, deserted house (Photo#4). The old photo below (Photo#2) is Everett Covered Bridge after the 1913 flood. The flood damage closed the nearby Ohio & Erie Canal.
INVESTIGATION: What can I say, in the daytime it is a beautiful bridge. I am sure it is creepier at night when your imaginations roam. We spent 30 minutes sitting in or near the quiet bridge eating our packed lunch then walked part of the grounds nearby. We had no experiences or sightings to verify this urban legend but enjoyed it for what it was – a beautiful, historic covered bridge looking very serene by the light of day!
