(Especially because I use dictation software for a lot of my script writing!) 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. So, anyway, starting from this initial rumor that was immortalized in the form of a YouTube video, the new version of the legend started to spread widely. Today, it is a popular location for nature enthusiasts and photographers. 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. 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. Old Alton Bridge, also known as Goatman's Bridge, is a historic iron truss bridge connecting the Texas cities of Denton and Copper Canyon. . 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. The newly improved bridge solved this problem as well as straightened out a sharp curve on both sides of the creek. The show is currently off season, as Season 18 last aired in November. Earning his living raising goats, he was soon called the Goatman by the locals. A rash of mysterious disappearances are becoming alarmingly routine on a. 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. \r\rSince the disappearance of the Goatman there have been many strange sightings on and near Old Alton Bridge. The hateful Klansman then went back to his home and killed the rest of his family. 714-993-8164. This series is the true story ofhow I became The Goatman. Old Alton Bridge aka Goatmans Bridge,' is a now infamous old haunted bridge near Denton Texas. 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. He also mentioned the bridge in a handful of his tweets, but the tweets werent coherent enough for me to glean anything from or for them to be worth reading from here. Apparently this commenter left a link a website, goatmansbridge.com which repeated the claim with no citation. 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". Though the community is no more, the name remains. He may have done that before 8/6, but thats just when I noticed it, while finalizing the script for this episode. 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. There's the bridge, and then there's . Unfortunately, I wasnt able to watch the video that he posted, but I was able to read the video description on the Wayback Machine. The Goatman's Bridge. Finally, water shortages forced the county seat to move to a new site in June 1848. Built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the 145-foot long bridge would serve area travelers for more than a century. 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). 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. Visitors hear hooves beating across the bridge, splashing in the creek below, maniacal laughter, and an inhuman growl that emanates from the woods. The church is located at 5724 Teasley Lane ( F.M. | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Return Policy, It didnt earn the Goatman title until half a century. But all of this is Internet talk, without corroboration, Blair explains. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. (, from his website: November 15th 1967: police discover an abandoned car beside Old Alton Bridge, five miles south of Denton, Texas. Instead of reading Oscar his Miranda Rights, the men assembled a vicious mob to cross the bridge and kidnap Oscar from his home. And, the Goatman is evidently not alone. 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. 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. Whenever a sighting of this ghastly figure occurs, a string of mysterious disappearances is sure to follow. In 2014, after Harrod's family had him declared legally dead and inherited his home, Heeter was evicted. Placentia Police Department 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. On Halloween, if you go the bridge and honk your horn twice, you may see the fiery red eyes of the Goatman. Though Commissioners were appointed and directed to lay out a town and sell lots, no records were ever done, and no public buildings were ever erected. The bridge takes its name from the abandoned community of Alton, which between 1850 and 1856 was the seat of Denton County. A rash of mysterious disappearances are becoming alarmingly routine on a chilling stretch of road that is known by locals as the Goatmans bridge., It sounds like the first comment was on July 2, 2010, on randomconnections.com. And I am pretty sure that it took place in the 1930s, not 1800s, because the bridge wasnt built until 1884 i think. 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. Whenever a sighting of this ghastly figure occurs, a string of mysterious disappearances is sure to follow. Most notably, one that occurred November 15th 1967. I had saved direct links as well as screen grabs of his comments, so I was able to test that and it said that the comments were deleted and then when I searched his user name, it said that his account had been deleted as well. The Klansmen, however, did not exactly follow the due process of the law. However, the goatmans bridge is haunted. 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 . theYear=now.getYear() A handful of states have a Goatman tale, with Texas having a few itself, but each expresses unique reminders of threats from a forgotten past. So whether the Old Alton is named after a terrifying demon or a particularly resilient goat farmer, the bridge is certainly worth the trip. According to their reports, the Goatman stands eight feet tall, with the chest and arms of a man, the hindquarters and hooved feet of a goat, and a frightening goats head complete with huge curled horns and glowing eyes. When approached, the woman is said to vanish. 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. They learn about Satanic worship underneath the bridge and hear stories from f. independent local journalism in Dallas. A week and a half after he went missing, two of his children filed for conservatorship to get control of his assets. When they looked down to see if he had died, the noose was empty. Around 2:30 p.m, his son in-law drove off to Home Depot to pick up supplies. It might have just been a racoon or somethingbut it was moving in our direction, and we all bolted out of there! 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. It didnt earn the Goatman title until half a century later, when an African-American named Oscar Washburn settled in the area. Ghost Adventures fans are in for a spooky treat Thursday night. I have since been able to independently confirm that the youtube channel belongs to someone who he knew, but that it wasnt him who uploaded the video. This attempt was more successful. However, the county seat was moved once more in 1857, to Denton. When Denton County was formed in 1846, the first pioneers chose a place along Pecan Creek for the first county seat and named it Pinckneyville in honor of Texas first governor, James Pinckney Henderson. 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. Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2021. Folks online have said that the video just added some additional background details to the existing legend. Prior to the new bridge, it was necessary for motorists to signal with a car horn before crossing the single-lane span. Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, virtual remembrance and fundraising event. Before the new bridge, drivers had to signal with their horns before crossing the single-lane bridge, as there was room for only one vehicle to pass at a time. [1] Despite evidence to the contrary, stories of Goatman's existence continued to circulate, especially among local students. Several other reports tell of numerous abandoned cars that have been found near the bridge, with their occupants missing. "For the last several years I've given ghost tours on the Square, usually on the weekends. His family doesn't believe he would have left without warning. 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. The original video was called The First Goatmans Bridge Video Ever Uploaded on Youtube 2011 YouTube.. This person couldnt find newspaper articles to back up the story, but found where the rumor seemed to have started online. Their chance finally came that summer. Often the growl will be accompanied by the words, "Get off my bridge!" Its fascinating to me that the video links to a paranormal investigation site that doesnt really back up its claims. This was completely opposite of what the area is like in the daytime. Many of his neighbors bestowed upon him the affectionate nickname the Goatman.. Occasionally, it was rumored that Goatman would venture out to kill a dog or rush up abruptly beating cars with an ax. 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. Washburn was never seen again, they say, but a vengeful spirit has haunted the Old Alton Bridge ever since. [2] This bridge is the subject of several ghostlore stories featuring a vengeful ghost. The Old Alton Bridge is a historic iron bridge that spans over the muddy waters of Hickory Creek and connects the city of Denton to the city of Copper Canyon, a little less than an hours drive from Dallas. North Texans endearingly began to call him the Goatman. 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. Unaware of the plot against him, Oscar had rather harmlessly installed a sign on the Old Alton Bridge reading This way to the Goatmans. In response, the members of the Klan employed at the local police station drafted a law making it illegal to solicit anything at the bridge, and dually arrested Oscar in August of 1938. A half a century later a legend of a monstrous half-goat, half-man demon was born. We discuss the high amount of suicides that have happened at the bridge and more! 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. Some believe the Goatman remains dormant for years at a time and awakes only to hunt for prey. 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. 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. It just seems to be the story that captures everyone's imagination.". Numerous reports tell of unholy glowing eyes that burn red from the darkness, eerie glimpses of a large snarling Goat-headed man-beast stomping in the wooded shadows, or a frightening apparition of a maniacal Satyr carrying the heads of goats or humans in his hands. 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. 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. The legend goes that Kendalls body reanimated through the power of voodoo, ripped off the head of a nearby goat, and replaced his head with the goats as the astonished cowboys watched in horror. Next to the church is the cemetery. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Its original purpose was to carry horses and automobiles across the river. By 1856, the small town boasted several homes, a blacksmith shop, three stores, a school, a saloon, a hotel, two doctors, and several lawyers. I tried to PM him on reddit on 4/4/22, but he doesnt accept private messages. Put to a vote in November 1856; the county seat was moved again to Denton. You all asked for it so we did it. 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. But like I said, theres more than one version that attempts an explanation for a century of recurring frights and sights encountered at the bridge. 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. 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. Some folks online have given a name for the person who supposedly uploaded this video. There are news reports of abandoned cars on the bridge from the 1960s for sure.. Please treat the episode audio as the final product. The person said: "There have been several disappearances on and around Old Alton Bridge. Legend further holds that the Goatmans Bridge provides a gateway into Hell. Goatman's Bridge was built in 1884 to connect the towns of Alton and Denton. The legends and mysteries of Goatman's Bridge (including the infamous story of a goatman roaming the forest in search of those who killed his family) and the reports of abandon cars and missing persons make this place one of the most sought-after locations for those in the paranormal field. 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