This Creepy Iowa Bridge Is Haunted By The Ghost Of An Escaped Convict

Most Iowans are familiar with the movie The Bridges of Madison County, which takes place in Iowa, but what you may not know is that the bridges featured in the Meryl Streep/Clint Eastwood flick are very much real, and you can visit them.

Oh, and according to Only In Your State, one of the famous bridges is haunted. Roseman Bridge in Winterset has quite the creepy history- the story goes that an inmate escaped the Madison County Jail in 1883 and ran to the bridge. The sheriff and a group of helpers chased the escapee and tried trapping him on the covered bridge, but someone's gun went off in the process. They heard the inmate scream, but then he seemingly vanished into thin air.

Since the 1883 incident, reports of cold spots on the bridge are common, along with visitors seeing full body apparitions, hearing disembodied voices, and even feeling the bridge mysteriously shake. Central Iowa Paranormal Investigators have visited the bridge and had their own unexplainable experiences, including their recording devices picking up an EVP that told them to leave.

If you're interested in making the trip to check out Roseman Bridge, it's about 3 hours from the Quad Cities. A bit of a long trip, but definitely worth it if you happen to be visiting the Des Moines area. I've heard of a lot of Iowa urban legends but was unfamiliar with this one, and it definitely gives me the creeps.

More info about the bridge can be found here.

Check out some photos of Roseman Bridge taken by Instagram users. The bridge is beautiful but also has a sort of haunting quality to it. Makes sense considering its history.