Edna Collings Bridge
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| This covered bridge located just outside Clinton Falls in Putnam county was built in 1922 by Charles Collings. The concrete bridge that was here had washed away. The new bridge was named Edna Collings. |
| The Urban Legend surrounding this bridge is rather familiar to anyone who has spent time talking about rumored haunted spots. Sometime before 1922 a young girl used to swim in the water which runs under the bridge while her parents were busy in the nearby town. At dusk her parents would drive onto the bridge and honk 3 times to let her know they were ready to pick her up and take her back home with them. When she heard them honk she would come up onto the bridge, get into the car and they would all go home. One early evening, this routine changed permanently. After honking 3 times her parents were not rewarded with their daughter climbing into the car for the ride home but, rather an ominous silence. They discovered her body down below the bridge. An apparent drowning victim. It didn't take long for the stories of the area being haunted to begin. It is said that if you pull onto this bridge and honk 3 times the spirit of the little girl will come up to your car and get in for the ride to her home. |
| August 18, 2007 Arrived at Edna Collings Bridge at 8:55 p.m. Clear sky, waning moon, very little wind and 77 degrees. Present for this investigation were Curtis, Kenny, Donna Kaye and Angie. We were accompanied by Michael Zennie. Michael is a reporter for the Greencastle Banner Graphic newspaper. Pictures of the bridge were taken before nightfall. The area under the bridge was explored. As we were returning from under the bridge 2 cars carrying families pulled up and everyone got out to explore the bridge. They were very nice people who were from around Indianapolis and had spent the day visiting and exploring local covered bridges. They seemed a little surprised to see us there. Once we explained our purpose there the men knew of the stories about the bridge and said that was why they had made it their last stop of the day. They visited with us as we went about our investigation but left before it was full dark. During the time they were here Donna Kaye used dowsing rods on the bridge itself. The rods are copper with copper sleeves. The rods crossed over each other at each spot she stopped at to take a reading of the energy around her. It is her opinion that the rods were picking up negative energy from the surroundings. It is possible that the feelings of fear and tension the wives and children of the 2 families were feeling about the bridge caused the reaction of the dowsing rods. Once it was fully dark Kenny pulled onto the bridge, stopped and honked 3 times. He waited several minutes as we were taking pictures from both sides of the bridge before driving off. Angie saw movement to the side while Kenny was waiting in the vehicle. After he pulled off we took more pictures then Kenny and Curtis went under the bridge with cameras and audio recorder while Angie and Michael got into the vehicle and drove onto the bridge for another go at it. Donna Kaye took a series of pictures after they stopped on the bridge and honked 3 times. They waited several minutes before driving off the bridge. As Kenny and Curtis continued with their work below the bridge Angie and Donna Kaye answered questions from Michael about our team, local legends, other places we had investigated and what people thought about what we do. At one point Michael asked if we had ever been scared while on an investigation. The answer was Yes, at least a few times but, we keep doing it. At 10:45 p.m. a truckload of teenagers arrived and parked a little ways down the road from us. They walked up to where we were standing and began talking. They were great. They were very agreeable to talking with us about the stories they knew about the bridge(featured in the boxes to the left and right of this report), where they heard them from(mostly from other residents of the area) and having their pictures taken for our website. They also walked onto the bridge in the dark (ok there was a scream or 2) and then drove on the bridge in their truck as we observed them. We left the area at 11:20 p.m. While I cannot say with any certainty that the bridge is haunted I will say that it is a nice bridge in a beautiful location and well worth the trip to see it. There was a lot of traffic during our time there and we think the next time we should arrive much later in the evening. If you travel to this bridge and meet up with teens named Logan, Amber, Moleigh, Drew or James out there be sure to say hello from the IAE. |
| One of the stories our new friends related to us about the bridge is that the vehicle on the bridge must be red for the little girl to get into it. |
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| Please click on thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Kenny, Michael & Curtis |
| Someone left their t-shirt behind. |
| Kenny driving onto the bridge. Before....During.....and After. |
| These 9 photographs were taken immediately after each other while Angie and Michael were on the bridge waiting for the little girl to join them. The reflection on the left side of the pictures if from a beer can (not ours) that we missed removing before taking the pictures. |
| Left to right Logan M., Amber D.,Moleigh R., Drew C. & James M. |
| The teens who were so helpful and polite to us in answering all of our questions and agreeing to pose for our website. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm. Remember, be careful while hunting ghosts. |
| The teens on the bridge in Logan's truck. Those spots are dust reflections from the road they had just driven over. |
| Original Photo |
| Same photo, cropped. |