History & local legend
The railroad bridge over West High Street near Turnpike Road in Elizabethtown is associated with the Purple Light Bridge legend. The crossing dates to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s relocation of its main line onto an embankment near the end of the nineteenth century.
In the story recorded by the Shadowlands, a boy was struck and killed by a train near the bridge. Late at night, people are said to hear an approaching train and see a purple light moving along the tracks. The light is understood as the boy’s returning spirit.
Another Elizabethtown purple-light tradition belongs to Bossler Road. The boy and train sounds are associated with the West High Street crossing.
Sources
- The Shadowlands, Pennsylvania, Elizabethtown, Purple Light Bridge
- Pennsylvania Haunts & History, Purple Light Bridge in Elizabethtown, archived regional collection
- Borough of Elizabethtown, history of the freight station, main-line relocation and High Street bridge
- 2020 collector comparing competing Elizabethtown variants
- OpenStreetMap, West High Street directly under the railway
