The OES visited Palmer Road Crybaby Bridge on October 15, 2005, and again on July 30, 2006. Spanning the St. Mary’s River in Mercer County, the bridge in itself is just another typical over-truss country bridge. What makes this bridge different from the others are the legends that surround it. Known as the local Crybaby Bridge (almost every county in Ohio has one), there are several stories that involve the bridge. One story says that a man threw his baby over the bridge and killed his wife. Another states that a man killed both his wife and his baby before hanging himself from a tree at the bottom of the bridge. Yet another story states that a family was under the bridge when the devil himself showed up, killed them, and took them all to hell. Regardless of which these tales are told, it is said that if you stop your vehicle on the bridge, turn off the engine and lights, and roll down the windows, you will hear the cries of a baby. After a few minutes, a ghost will allegedly appear and move through the hood of your vehicle, disabling it until it is pushed off the bridge. It sounds like your typical crybaby bridge story, right?
There may be something to these legends after all. An OES investigator happened to be in the area one evening and decided to give the ritual a try. He followed the directions prescribed above and waited for something to happen. After waiting a few minutes without hearing or seeing anything, he tried to start his vehicle, and to his astonishment, the vehicle would not start until he pushed it off the bridge! After his experience, an official OES outing was arranged, and we visited the bridge in October 2005. We began our visit by following the legend’s directions and then turned our audio recorder on to attempt to record electronic voice phenomenon (EVP). After waiting for a few minutes, we turned the car on with no problems and left the area. Upon playback of our audio recording, we discovered that we had recorded an EVP immediately after turning the recorder on. The voice sounded like a woman yelling, “I will not deny my baby,” followed by a cry. The EVP was so strong that it actually recorded over an OES investigator’s opening remarks. We have returned to Palmer Road Crybaby Bridge numerous times since, including a July 2006 daytime trip when we took some photographs, but we have not been able to duplicate the results.
Location Information: Public Roadway
The Palmer Road Bridge is located on Palmer Road just south of Dutton Road; Mercer County.
Photographs
EVP Recording
| I Will Not Deny My Baby: This EVP screaming, “I will not deny my baby,” was recorded from inside our car as we parked on the local crybaby bridge. The EVP drowns out human conversation and crying can be heard in the background. Several people have reported hearing other voices as well. |