The Haunted Bridge

I'm responding to a request from two family members with this post.
This is another of those stories that goes back to my High School Days.

The bridge in the picture is located in Avon, Indiana.

I'll not go into detail why the bridge was supposedly haunted......you can get a much better explanation of that story, along with more pictures

here.

The bridge was a place of legend in the area.
With friends, I would frequently drive there late at night, park the car, and crawl up into the bridge to explore.

As you can see in the picture, the bridge had three major arches, and each of the major arches had 8 minor arches. What you cannot see in the picture is that there was a walkway running lengthwise, up and down the three major arches, through the concrete walls of the 24 minor arches and the two concrete support piers. You could walk the length of the bridge, up and down each of the major arches. It was apparent that hoboes had at times crawled in there to get out of the weather or sleep while awaiting their next ride.

Obviously, it was more than a little spooky at night...
a great place for a High School prank!

Ron, Tom and I were on the Varsity football team. We knew that three underclassmen, all on the Junior Varsity football team, were camping out at one of the kid's homes. We thought the bridge would be a great place to give them something to remember!

Here was our plan:
Tom and I took an old T-shirt and poured used motor oil on it. On top of that, we strategically squirted a little ketchup. We then fashioned a wire coat-hanger in such a way as to hold the T-shirt so that it was completely unfurled.
Tommy and I grabbed a flashlight and took off for the bridge, while Ron made his way to visit our campers with an offer of adventure.

Tom and I drove under the bridge and continued far enough that our car was out of sight. We climbed up into the bridge and made our way up and down the arches to the far end, then quietly waited for Ron to show up with our victims.

Of course, Ron had played up the "haunted" story for all it was worth. When he and our victims arrived on-scene, we could tell from the tempo of the chatter that the boys were pretty anxious and agitated about exploring the bridge.
It was easy to hear their progress as they made their way toward us........up and down two of the arches.

We waited until they were at the apex of the third arch, then turned the flashlight on through a filter of our fingers, so as not to make it obvious the T-shirt was empty..........

The reaction was predictable and instantaneous! After initial screams, we heard what sounded like a scuffle as the victims bumped into one another trying to make their way back to their entry point. The sound was very similar to Moe, Curly, and Larry trying to make their way through a doorway at the same time!

One of the underclassmen got confused in the rush to escape and made a 90 degree turn toward an opening in the bridge..........if Ron hadn't stopped him, he might very well have jumped/fallen 35 feet to the creek below!

Tom and I waited until we heard the others start their car and drive off, then made our way to our car and took the direct route to our local drive-in restaurant.
Ron, as planned, took the longer way there.

So Tom and I were quietly sipping our Cherry Cokes when Ron and the three J.V. players showed up, excitedly relating an unbelievable story about their "near death experience"....... at Avon's Haunted Bridge!

UPDATE:

This site

has more pictures and an interesting narrative.