Emily’s Bridge

Most of the covered bridges in New England are known for their picturesque qualities, but Emily’s Bridge in Stowe, Vermont, has a more infamous reputation. Built-in 1844 to carry what came to be known as Covered Bridge Road over Gold Brook, “Emily’s Bridge” is a single-lane, 50-foot-long bridge. Its wooden frame is dark and weathered, and it was here, if the legend is to be believed, that a girl with a broken heart took her own life.

In the mid-1800s, Emily was supposed to meet her paramour at what was then called Gold Brook Bridge to elope. When he never showed, it’s said Emily took her own life from the rafters of the covered bridge. In the ghost story that followed, Emily is apparently an angry specter. Tales of claw-like gouges down the sides of cars and other ghastly stories surround the bridge, including those of a strange voice emanating from inside the short tunnel.

Interestingly enough, it’s not just called Emily’s Bridge by supernatural enthusiasts. The name has carried over into the tourist products of Stowe, whose shops sell quaint little postcards and souvenirs featuring the bridge against the cozy backdrops of fall and winter and labeled in beautiful script, “Emily’s Bridge.”

Adapted with permission from The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker