Purple Head Bridge Investigation 2018

This one-lane bridge was built in 1897 by Edge Moor Bridgeworks of Wilmington, Delaware and King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio as originally a railroad bridge spanning the Wabash River near St. Francisville, Illinois.

The length of the bridge in 1441 feet and is a toll bridge operated from the Illinois side. The bridge was later purchased by Frank Stangle in 1970 who opened it up to vehicular traffic as a toll bridge. The existing railroad tracks were left in place and covered by wooden planks.

In 1995 it was sold to the city of St. Francisville and finally sold to the state of Illinois in 2009. It is known under several different names including the St. Francisville Bridge, the Wabash Cannonball Bridge, Stangle Bridge and Purple Head Bridge.

Address: Located on Wabash Cannonball Road just northeast of St. Francisville, Illinois in Lawrence County, Illinois and Knox County, Indiana.

GPS coordinates: 38.60493, -87.62722

There have been numerous reports of “purple heads” floating around the bridge at both day and night. This might be due to the legend that a few people committed suicide on this bridge and through strangulation, their heads discolored into a purple hue as the blood was cut off from the brain. Sometimes these purple heads are seen in the rearview mirror of cars that park out there at night.

An urban legend was started that in order to see the purple heads, you must stop your car near the bridge and blink your headlights or blow your horn three time and then, it is said, the heads will suddenly appear.

Another story to possibly explain this phenomenon is a man who attempted suicide on the bridge but something went wrong. He was decapitated in his attempt and the body was never found. The head that is said to haunt this bridge is said to be from this poor individual.

There is a small memorial near the bridge of Revolutionary War officer named James Johnston who was a lieutenant-colonel who survived the war and lived out his life near the bridge. Those who visit the bridge are said to disturb his slumber and his ghost haunts the location.

Yet another theory is that the ghost is of J. B. Halter, a Catholic priest from the St. Francisville area fell off a Big Four train crossing the bridge in December of 1906. Allegedly, he had too much to drink and fell off the train when it jerked suddenly. He hit his head and laid there all night crying for help. When workers found him the next day, he was rushed to his friend’s home where he eventually died.

Some say that during the 1960s, the KKK was active in this area and a number of illegal lynchings took place from the bridge. This might explain some of the ghosts that are said to haunt the location if only some of these stories could be verified and documented.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Purple Head Bridge August 3, 2018 and the team members included: Jim Piscopo, Mike Rosario and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Jason Snider, Jason Dickerson, Riley Miller and Courtney Bowen from Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunters

Equipment set up: This year we visited Purple Head Bridge during the daylight hours and I was amazed at exactly how long this structure is.

Experiments performed: We conducted a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge and also employed digital recorders, digital cameras and camcorders.

Personal experiences:

Mike Rosario: My feelings were very overwhelming, as this was a place that was prominent of many suicides, and series of unfortunate events that took place there. I felt very uneasy at times, and a bit weary. Might’ve been the heat, I’m not sure. But I felt that there was a lot of energy surrounding the area. A great spot to investigate, nonetheless, though.

Dale Kaczmarek: This second visit to this bridge was unique as we first investigated it in the daylight but also went underneath the bridge. Our EVP sessions were conducted here and some interesting responses came through. There were a lot of mumbled and unintelligible words and phrases that came through but many could not be understood and a lot of questions remained unanswered.

Evidence collected:

Abraham Lincoln purplehead.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge the device said something without prompting that sounded like, “Abraham Lincoln.”

Abraham purplehead.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge, a question was asked, “Who’s the president right now? Can you tell me?” The device responded with, “Abraham.”

Get some rope purplehead.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge, the device said without prompting something that sounds like, “Get some rope!”

Need something purplehead.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge, the device said without prompting, “Need something?”

Older people purplehead.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge, the device said without prompting, “Older people.”

Rope purplehead.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge, a question was asked, “How did people kill themselves on this bridge?” The device responded with something that sounds like, “Rope.”

Vocabulary is perfect purplehead.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session underneath the bridge, a comment was made, “Try to use this device we have her for communication.” The device responds with, “Vocabulary is perfect. “

Conclusions: This area never seems to disappoint as far as EVPs go. It doesn’t matter if it is investigated at night or during the daylight. During the first session, there was a problem with the Ovilus X which rectified itself towards the end of the session.

This is always a great place for investigations and evidence collection.