Boy Scout Bridge Investigation

Everyone just calls this old unused bridge, Boy Scout Bridge because it is very near to the old Boy Scouts Camp where the Army Corp of Engineers used to stay. The bridge cannot handle any foot or car traffic due to the floor of the bridge is missing. It is located over the Embarras River that spans a very deep and dangerous gouge or ravine that spans the river. It is easy to imagine people diving off the bridge or falling from the ledges and becoming seriously hurt or even killed.

Address: nearest address is: 7590 E. Hershey Lane, Claremont, IL 62421 (on CR 1875N, west of CR 1900E)

GPS: N 38° 846’ 2326”, W -87° 949’ 6897”

Hauntings: Visitors have heard screams and other weird sounds at night. There are no actual documentation or newspaper articles of any deaths or suicides here even though some have nicknamed this location Suicide Bridge. Locals have spun tales throughout the years that they believe this bridge is haunted but can’t actually explain why without retelling urban legends or folklore.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Boy Scout Bridge on August 28, 2020 and the team members included: Mike Rosario, Kelly Griffey and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Jason Snider, Courtney Mendenhall and Ed Reese from Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunter's Society

Equipment setup: No equipment was setup. This was just a brief stop where a short EVP session was conducted and numerous pictures were taken.

Experiments performed: One single EVP session was conducted here using a Sangean Ghost Box sweeping the AM frequency.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: As you know I love bridges and this one was a bit more dangerous than other bridges that we have visited and investigated in the past. There was a very steep incline from the bridge to the river below and I only got as close as I felt safe. I did not feel anything unusual while there and really nothing came through our EVP session except several of our names mentioned randomly and without actual questions being asked about names at the time.

Evidence collected: Nothing.

Words spoken by the Sangean Ghost Box in AM sweep: Mike, Frank, Ed and Dale. (That was significant seeing that Mike, Ed and Dale were in attendance at the bridge.)

Conclusions: Surely a spooky-looking bridge set back off a closed off road with a guardrail blocking further exploration. It would have been great if the actual name of the bridge could be ascertained and not simply a nickname or what locals call it.

As it spans running water, one could assume that it could be haunted even though no reliable sources of information regarding any untimely deaths or suicides could be uncovered. Further research would be necessary including contacting local historical societies would be in order.