[BIKE] An Old Schoolhouse and a Haunted Bridge

On this trip I decided to travel South of Vermilion into the townships that flirt with the border of Lorain County and Erie County. This area is incredibly picturesque and until I rode my bike on it I did not realize how incredibly hilly it was as well.

27.7 miles.

I began my ride by taking my normal route down Lake Road into Vermilion, but this time instead of continuing on I made a left onto West River Road, which took me South.

Everywhere is a bike route if you're brave enough.

Flat so far.

Interesting lawn ornament.

I proceeded South down Darrow Road until I came up to North Ridge Road. I then made a left and came across the soccer fields I used to play on in kindergarten.

The Vermilion Soccer Complex.

Another Brownhelm Township School

I made a right onto Morse Road and came across an old schoolhouse, one of the 10 that were once part of the Brownhelm School District, including the one on North Ridge Road that I wrote about in a previous post.

Brownhelm Schoolhouse

Unfortunately I could not find any old photographs of this school, but I do know that is was built before 1874, due to it being on a map at that time. I tried to sneak pictures of the inside, but it was completely boarded up, so I continued on South.

Farm on Dean Road.

Dean's Hollow and The Old Bridge

As far back as I could remember I had heard the ghost stories of this area. I'm not one to necessarily believe in ghosts, but that doesn't mean that if I visited this place in the dead of night I wouldn't want to leave as fast as possible, because I would.

The entrance to Dean's Hollow. I believe the gates may be closed in the Wintertime due to the steepness of the roadway.

There are two legends that haunts the are of Dean's Hollow. The first one is the "Devil's Heartbeat". Dean's Hollow was once an oil derrick and the legend states that at night you can hear a booming noise that sounds distinctively like a heartbeat. When I mentioned Dean Road to my coworkers they all seemed to know this story, but I knew this area for a different reason. I knew it for the bridge.

Dean Road Bridge.

The Dean Road bridge crosses over the Vermilion River. It is a single lane "Though Truss Bridge" with a wooden deck that was built in 1898 and then finally revitalized in 2013. If the fact that wooden bridges still exist didn't scare you enough, then the story I was told as a kid in Summer Camp might.

Sketchy...

The story I was told as a kid was that a serial killer that went by the name of "Hook" used to kill people on this bridge. The bridge was a popular spot for couples to visit in order to scare one another, unfortunately it ended up in their demise. When a vehicle stopped on the bridge and the unsuspecting victim stepped out Hook would impale the person with a hook (hence the name) and hang them from the rafters of the bridge.

Another angle.

The more "mainstream" story is that a long, long time ago on the bridge that the current bridge replaced (yes, if you can believe it this one isn't even the old bridge) there was a man that committed suicide by hanging himself from the rafters. The rope was left hanging on the old bridge long after his body was removed until the bridge itself was tore down and replaced with the current one. The legend states that if you are driving on the bridge at night and you see the rope hanging you will die shortly after. The simple solution to not dying would be to avoid this bridge at night (at least that is what I will be doing).

Look at that sexy ride (you should see the rider).

The stories regarding the old Dean Road Bridge are similar, but have obviously been construed over the years from the original tale (that is if any of it is true at all). Do I believe someone killed themselves on the old bridge? Possibly, and it would give them reason to replace it. Will I be testing these stories out? Not in a million years.

Thanks for reading!