On September 21, 2019 we traveled out to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park with our friends form Happy Trails Hiking and one of the stops that we made was at the haunted Everett Covered Bridge.
We stopped at several different locations on that day including the Brandywine Falls and Blue Hen Falls. Happy Trails Hiking's channel has a strong basis of traveling to and hiking National Parks, and of course we have the passion for traveling to historical and haunted places. This day full of adventures brought those two passions together for both channels and it was an awesome experience.
It is easy to find the bridge which has a nice sized parking lot. You can find the parking lot by using the following map:
Once you park you car and start walking over towards the bridge you will see an information booth that a lot of information about the bridge. Before we headed back to the bridge, we spent some time reading the information.
From the information booth back to the bridge, it is a short walk and you really cannot see the bridge right away (at least in the summer time). Keep walking on the path and the bridge will come into sight.
About the Bridge
The original Everett Covered Bridge, which crossed Furnace Run, is the only remaining covered bridge in Summit County. When it was built in the 1800s, it was one of over 2,000 in the state. During that period, Ohio led the nation in covered bridge construction. This bridge played an important role in the transportation system of its time. Local histories emphasize the role of the Ohio & Erie Canal. With the canal, farmers could ship products to Cleveland and beyond. But to get to the canal and other local destinations, people needed functional roads. The bridge that stands on the location today is a reconstruction.
On a winter night in 1877, valley farmers John Gilson and his wife had to cross Furnace Run when returning home from visiting friends. A winter storm had caused the waters to rise and ice to obstruct the ford they would have used. In passing around the ford, Mrs. Gilson was thrown into the stream. Mr. Gilson lost his footing and was dragged by his horse into deeper water. Mrs. Gilson was rescued, but Mr. Gilson's body was not recovered until four days later. There are those who believe that this bridge was built as a result of that tragedy.
We entitled this blog post (and video) "Spirits will warn you," due to one of the paranormal claims that we have found about the bridge. Investigators have picked up on EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) saying, "Help me", and "Beware" which may coincide with the tragedy that took place at the location.
We put together a video about our visit to the bridge, you can check it out here:
Marianne was running the Ovilus while we were walking about the bridge. We normally do this when we are aware that there are paranormal claims at a local. For those who don't know, and Ovilus is a combination between an EMF meter and a dictionary device. It is believed that the spirits can use their energy to communicate through the device, but the device will go off anytime there is a spike in EMF fluctuation. When it does respond with words that may be associated with the location or a conversation, we always try to document these responses in case we get a chance to go back some day and do a more thorough investigation. The following are the words that were picked up on the device.
Was the sprit trying to tell us that there is a potential project that was going to take place in the future? Was the spirit maybe trying to tell us that they the bridge has been rebuilt due to floods and other damage? We are not quite sure at this time; however, it does warrant going back to the bridge someday to do a more in depth investigation. Which we have added to our list.
Out of all of the photos and video that we took while we were at the bridge, we didn't get a good profile picture. I had asked Kay from Happy Trails Hiking if they did get a chance to get one since they were taking pictures while they were there as well. Yes! they did and they agreed to share their photo with us. This image is also on the PANICd.com record for this location as well. Again thank you to Matt and Kay from Happy Trails Hiking for sharing their photograph with us.
Let us know down in the comment if you have visited this bridge yourself in the past and if you had any type of experience while at the bridge. We would love to hear more about your adventure.
