Ghosts of Ohio
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Lore & Legends

Bloody Bridge

Just outside of Spencerville on Route 66 lies a bridge that crosses the Miami Erie Canal. According to legend, it was the site of a grisly murder in 1854. In 1977, the Auglaize County Historical Society erected a plaque near the bridge that recounts the events of that night:

"During the canal years of the 1850s a rivalry grew between Bill Jones and Jack Billings for the love of Minnie Warren. There became hatred by Bill because Minnie chose Jack. On a fall night in 1854, returning from a party, Minnie and Jack were surprised on the bridge by Bill, armed with an axe. With one swing, Bill severed Jack's head. Seeing this, Minnie screamed and fell into a watery grave. Bill disappeared, and when a skeleton was found years later in a nearby well, people asked was it suicide or justice."

Almost immediately after the murder, whispers of ghostly images seen on and around the bridge began to surface. One legend tells of a headless man who can sometimes be seen on the bridge at night. Another says that sometimes when you look off the bridge into the dark water, you can see Minnie Warren’s face looking back.

People began referring to the bridge as "Bloody Bridge.” When the original was replaced, people for miles around took pieces of it as souvenirs. A tribute to the strength of this story, the new bridge still carries the name “Bloody Bridge.”



© The Ghosts of Ohio