Jilted Bride Bridge

Beaver Creek

In the early 1800s near what is now East Liverpool, Ohio was the small canal town of Sprucevale.

A young woman, Esther Hale lived near Sprucevale alongside Beaver Creek.

He friends knew her as a happy well-adjusted young lady. But her fate would not be a happy one.

Newly engaged to a local boy, Esther was ecstatic. She became more and more impatient as her wedding day drew near.

When the day finally arrived it is said Esther got up before dawn and put her wedding dress on. She stood in front of a mirror admiring her reflection.

As the time for the ceremony arrived Esther was concerned for there was no sign of her fiancé who had promised to accompany her to the community church.

She marched outside and stood on a small bridge that crossed Beaver Creek in hopes of seeing her beloved arrive. But the hours passed and he did not appear.

Bridge today

Dejected, Esther stood on the small bridge well after the sunlight had faded and the darkness of night enveloped her.

It slowly dawned on her that she had been “left at the altar.” She returned to her home and drew the curtains.

Several days later a group of friends concerned they had not seen her, arrived at her home. The knocked on her door but received no response.

They peered through one curtain and were shocked to see Esther sitting amidst wedding decorations still wearing her wedding gown.

They knocked on the door once more and pleaded with her to let them in, she assured them she was all right but she refused to open the door.

From then on Esther remained removed from society. Neighbors saw her in her garden or more often standing on the small bridge looking off into the distance.

Whenever she was seen she was still wearing her wedding dress, which was now stained and tattered.

Several months after her ruined wedding day the area was hit by a series of bad snowstorms. When the locals were finally able to dig out several mentioned that Esther had not been seen in quite awhile.

A small group made their way to her home only to discover a horrible sight. Esther Hale’s decaying body was sitting quietly in a chair. She was still wearing her rotting wedding gown.

Almost immediately after Esther was buried locals began to report a strange sight on the small bridge near Esther’s home.

People stated as they crossed this bridge Esther’s ghost still wearing her wedding dress, would reach out to them from the side of the road.

As the years passed, witnesses stated this strange sight was seen especially on August 12^th the day that was supposed to be Esther’s wedding day.

Many accounts stated that her ghost would lunge at passing carriages on the bridge trying to claw her way into their vehicles.

These sightings persisted even after it was cars and not carriages that crossed this small bridge.

With time the story of this haunting included a warning that witnesses to Esther’s ghost should never let her touch them. For if this were allowed she would become young again but the person she touched would suddenly grow old and die.

So people to this day that cross this bridge are told they better beware.

Time Slips

This is a paranormal phenomenon in which a person or group of people travel through time. It is not known how or why this happens. The result is many people discount these claims.

Petit Trianon in 2005
Where the incident occurred.

Charlotte Anne Moberly

The earliest and most famous time slip occurrence is known as the Ghosts of Versailles. 

In the summer of 1901 two English ladies Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain claim they stepped back in time to the French Revolution while walking near the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

I talk about their story in depth here. Rosemary Ellen Guiley includes an excellent summary of this case in her book, The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits.

Eleanor Jourdain

In the 1970s a more recent case of a time slip was featured on the British television series entitled, Strange But True? This case involved two English couples on holiday. The Simpsons and Gisby’s were driving through France on their way to Spain when they decided to stay overnight in a quaint, old-fashioned inn they found.

It was ridiculously cheap, and the food was good, so they decided on their way back they would stay at the same inn. But on their return journey, they could not find it--even though they spent time looking for it. Back at home, both couples had the photographs they took on this trip developed.

But all of the photos these two couples took at the old inn were missing when they picked up their pictures separately. Even both sets of negatives were missing. 

Here is a link to a video that the British television series, Strange But True? did about this story. It is the second story presented in this brief ten-minute clip about timeslips.

On Bold Street in Liverpool, a whole series of time slip occurrences have been recorded. Some consider them just urban legends. They began in the 1990s, and supposedly, they are still happening today. Here is only one of these stories.

The following was told by a Merseyside Policeman who traveled back in time in July of 1996, in Liverpool ‘s Bold Street area.

End of Bold Street, Liverpool
Photo: John Bradley

Frank, who was off duty, went shopping with his wife, Carol in Liverpool one sunny Saturday afternoon. At Central Station, the pair split up. His wife went to buy a book at Dillons and Frank went to look for a music CD he wanted. 

Afterward, he found himself on an incline near the Lyceum Post Office, which leads onto Bold Street. Planning to meet up with his wife he suddenly noticed he was surrounded by an eerie silence.

Out of nowhere a small box van that looked like something out of the 1950s, sped across his path, honking its horn as it narrowly missed him. Frank noticed the name on the van's side. Caplan's--but they hadn't been in business for years. 

Frank now confused, looked at his shoes to discover he was standing in the middle of the road. He quickly crossed to the sidewalk and saw that Dillons Bookshop now had Cripps over its entrance. More confused, he saw no books but a display of women's handbags and shoes.

He then noticed the people around him were dressed in clothing from the 1940s. To his relief, he spotted a young girl dressed in modern-day fashion. He smiled at her as she walked past him and entered Cripps.

He followed her into the transformed store but as he entered the building--it was once more Dillons Bookshop. As the young girl left the store, he caught her attention. He asked her “Did you see that?'” 

She replied, "Yeah, I thought it was a clothes shop- I was going to look around, but it's a bookshop."

Cripps and Caplan's were businesses based in Liverpool in the 1940s and 50s.