Since the container ship hit and collapsed the bridge in Baltimore, bridges seem to have been in the news quite a bit. I was reading an article on the state of bridges in the US, and and ran across something that I had never heard of — apparently there is such a thing as a crybaby bridge.
These bridges are located throughout the United States and are said to mark locations where a baby died. According to legend, if you’re brave enough to wait patiently on the bridge, you’ll actually hear the baby cry.
Here’s a few that I found through my extensive research that were particularly interesting…..
Cooper Road is a lonely stretch of road that wanters through the backwoods of Middletown, New Jersey. If you stay on this road long enough, you will eventually come to the crybaby bridge. A baby is said to have drowned under this bridge. If you want to hear the baby cry, you should position your vehicle in the middle of the bridge and wait. But make sure you don’t turn your car off, because you won’t be able to start it again.
Just outside of Concord is a bridge on Poplar Tent Road that the locals refer to as Sally’s Bridge. According to local lore, a young woman named Sally was driving home with her baby when she lost control of her car, skidded across the bridge, and crashed. The baby was ejected from the vehicle and fell into the water. Sally was panic stricken and dove into the water to try to save her child, but both mother and child drowned. Today, legend has it that Sally’s ghost will bang on your car, desperately trying to find someone to help save her dying child.
Seems like Ohio has as many, if not more, crybaby bridges as any state. Legend has it that on a cold November night in the small town of Cable, a deeply depressed woman bundled up her newborn baby and walked onto a bridge that crossed over some railroad tracks. She waited patiently until she heard the sound of a train whistle in the distance. Holding the baby in her arms, the woman jumped in front of the oncoming train just as it reached the bridge — both were killed instantly. If you visit the bridge, especially when it’s close to midnight, just be aware. Travelers crossing the bridge at that time have reported that their cars suddenly stalled. When they tried to restart the engines, they heard the sound of a distant train whistle. As the whistle got closer, motorists reported hearing a baby crying. Then, just when it sounded as though the train was right next to the bridge, they heard a woman scream — and then everything went silent. Only then were they able to start their cars again.
According to legend, on a bridge in Monmouth, Illinois, an entire busload of small children drove off the bridge when the driver lost control of the bus. It is said that if you go to the bridge at night, turn off your car’s engine and put your vehicle in neutral, you’ll hear cries from the dead children. Then ghostly hands will push your car across the bridge and back onto the road, leaving tiny handprints on the back of your car.
And a little closer to home, the story associated with the crybaby bridge in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, says that a young, single woman became pregnant. Embarrassed and afraid of being disowned, she somehow managed to conceal her pregnancy from her family and friends. When the baby was born, the woman waited until nightfall, walked to the bridge, and threw the baby from the bridge into the water below. Legend has it that if you go out to the bridge at night, you’ll hear the baby crying.
So bridges provide us with a way to get from one place to another — but maybe sometimes that place is the afterlife……
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