History & local legend
The Gudgeonville Covered Bridge once crossed Elk Creek near Girard in Erie County. Although arson destroyed the wooden bridge in 2008, stories about the crossing survived.
The strangest concerns a mule or donkey that stopped in the bridge when it heard music from a passing circus. In the version recounted by Erie Reader, the animal refused to move and its furious owner beat it to death. Phantom hoofbeats were later said to sound on the bridge boards.
A separate story concerns Darlene Maria Nicholas, a girl who died in a fall from a nearby cliff in 1964. Later visitors hoped to see her ghost near the crossing.
