Edna Collins Covered Bridge Haunting

Near Clinton Falls in Putnam County, Indiana, the Edna Collins Covered Bridge spans Little Walnut Creek. Built in 1922 by carpenter Charles Hendrix, it was the last covered bridge constructed in Putnam County. It replaced a modern concrete bridge that had been washed away during a high-water flood. The Burr Arch span is approximately 80 feet long and remains the shortest of the county’s nine historic covered bridges, earning it the nickname “Baby Bridge.”

Local legend holds that a young girl named Edna Collins lived in a farmhouse near the creek bed and frequently swam in Little Walnut Creek beneath the bridge during her childhood. Her parents would drop her off on their way to town, and when they returned, her father would honk three times as a signal for her to come home. One evening, the horn sounded but Edna did not appear. Her worried parents searched the creek and found that she had drowned. The circumstances surrounding her death are unknown.

Versions of the story differ on details. The Ghost Research Society’s telling puts the girl in the creek with her dog in the 1920s and says that after frantic honking the family dog came up alone and led her parents to her body. Another tale says Edna’s father built the bridge in memory of his daughter, which doesn’t match the Putnam County Parks account of Charles Hendrix building it in 1922. Some variations have her mother, grieving, following her in death by hanging herself.

Over time, visitors developed a ritual meant to summon Edna’s spirit: driving onto the bridge at night, turning off the headlights and engine, and honking three times. Those who follow this practice report various encounters. A lesser-known variation holds that bringing a piece of rope from a nearby church sign onto the bridge will summon a shadowy figure identified as Edna’s grieving mother.

In August 2018, members of the Ghost Research Society conducted a paranormal investigation at the bridge. They set up cameras, an X-Cam SLS device, and performed a Phasma Box session during which they captured audio they described as a female voice saying “Come here”. No apparition was recorded on camera.