The 18 Mile Creek Phantom Bridge, Westport, Kentucky

[Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome back to another edition of history in your own backyard i'm satoli today we're in kentucky and i came across this old phantom bridge right behind me stay tuned and we'll check it out before we talk about this old bridge let's talk about what defines a ghost road and a phantom bridge a ghost road is a roadway that was once owned or is currently owned by the county this road originally carried traffic on a daily basis but over the years the county may have chosen to no longer maintain the road or close it completely the road may now be private property or could still be owned by the county a phantom bridge is a span that was once used on a daily basis to cross a body of water such as a stream or a creek a phantom bridge is always located on a ghost road and can be one of the ultimate finds during a road tour phantom bridges were usually bypassed after the current roadway was realigned a phantom bridge can usually be located near a bridge currently in use a good way to spot phantom bridges is to look left and right when crossing a bridge sometimes these bridges may be up to 100 yards up or down stream from the current bridge location now that we know about ghost roads and phantom bridges let's take a look at this old bridge built in 1885 by the champion bridge company of wilmington ohio the 18 mile creek phantom bridge near westport kentucky is about 40 feet long and spans 18 mile creek this pratt pony truss bridge sits on an abandoned section of five oaks road in this aerial view taken in 1955 it shows the bridge still in use however sometime between 1963 and 1969 five oaks road was bypassed when route 524 also known as westport road was realigned and this bridge was vacated since that time the wooden deck was either removed or fell into the creek below today the bridge is barely holding on and will likely drop into the creek as it doesn't look like the county has any interest in preserving this relic from the 1800s a neat little bridge with a decorative fennel at the one end get in your car and take a road trip to see this piece of history before it's lost forever thanks for watching another edition of history in your own backyard and remember travel slowly and stop often see you next time [Music] you

Channel: History in Your Own Backyard

Views: 1,247

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Kentucky, Oldham County, Westport, Bridge, Creek, Phantom, Ghost, History, Historic

Id: Izhd5Q5KorA

Length: 3min 43sec (223 seconds)

Published: Sat May 15 2021