The Jericho Covered Bridge

Posted: 03.18.2025 | Updated: 03.18.2025

If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Baltimore, you might find yourself on a drive outside the city. Out here, the landscape opens up, and you’re able to spot all kinds of historical treasures tucked away. This includes the historic Jericho Covered Bridge. 

To an untrained eye, the bridge looks like a postcard. Enveloped by colorful foliage and trees, it seems to be a beautiful reminder of the days of the past. But don’t let first impressions fool you. If you drive or walk through the bridge, you might be met with a pair of shadowy eyes looking back at you from the rafters. 

If you want to see a different side of Baltimore, one that focuses on spirits, tragic tales, and stories of backstabbing, book a ghost tour with Baltimore Ghosts tonight. 

Who Haunts Jericho Covered Bridge?

There are numerous spirits who are said to haunt the covered bridge. From the ghosts of enslaved people of the past to a burn victim to an innocent-looking woman, you never know who you’ll encounter at the Jericho Covered Bridge. 

The stories go beyond the spirit world, too. There’s also a cryptid that’s said to protect the haunted bridge, while a demon-like creature scares visitors away.

The History of the Jericho Covered Bridge

The Jericho Covered Bridge was built in 1865. This was a monumental year for the United States. On April 9, the Civil War ended after years of war. Baltimore, who had sided with the North, no doubt released a heavy sigh of relief. However, just a week later, President Lincoln was assassinated just down the road in Washington, DC. 

It was a tumultuous time, but it was also an important period of rebuilding. A lot of the infrastructure throughout the US had been destroyed or damaged during the war, and the latter part of 1865 was the time to start putting the pieces back together. On the border of Baltimore and Harford counties, just outside Kingsville, this meant building a new bridge wide enough to service horse-drawn carriages. 

The bridge was impressive for the time: 88 feet long and 15 feet wide. The builders opted to cover the bridge to protect the foundational wooden structure from the elements. The choice to cover the bridge has definitely proven to be a good one, as the bridge is still standing to this day. However, it has had some help, with repairs and renovations taking place in 1937, 1983, and 2015.

The striking red color has led to this bridge becoming a must-see landmark for many visiting the Baltimore area. Others visit, however, for a more spectral-focused reason.

Why Is the Jericho Covered Bridge Haunted?

As far as records show, no major accidents, tragedies, or crimes took place on the Jericho Covered Bridge itself. However, there are local stories of a few particularly heinous crimes being committed on the bridge. 

It’s said that after the war, the bridge was used to lynch newly freed slaves. How many perished here, it seems, has been lost to time. 

This could be why the spirits of enslaved people of the past are said to remain on the bridge. Their spirits, however, look the opposite of being at peace. Instead, witnesses at the bridge have reported seeing the shadows of bodies hanging by their necks. When they look up at the rafters, horrified, they see nothing. 

Other Strange Occurrences on the Bridge

While the hanging bodies may be one of the most traumatic otherworldly experiences to witness, it’s not the only thing people have experienced on the Jericho Covered Bridge.

People often report hearing a sharp scream from inside the bridge, even though no one is there. Others have also heard footsteps from invisible bodies echoing throughout the wooden structure. There are some other inexplicable patterns that have emerged over the years too.

Unexplainable Car Issues

One of the most reported strange happenings at the bridge is to have your car stall about halfway down the bridge. The car may be brand new or may never have had any issues; then, partway down, it’ll die completely. 

Others who go to the bridge hoping to find something have sprinkled powder all over their car and driven through the covered bridge. When they pull out to the other side and get out to inspect, they’ll find handprints all over their vehicle. 

A Little Girl Spirit

Another story goes that not far from the bridge, a little girl was riding in the bed of her dad’s pickup truck one night.  She was comfortable, lying on the recently cut hay, but she was afraid of the dark. So, her dad gave her an oil lantern. 

Unfortunately, the little girl fell asleep, and the lantern tipped: setting the hay ablaze. The little girl was instantly surrounded by flames and burned to death. Her ghost has been seen around the bridge, wanting to play with people passing through.

The Female Ghosts

There are two specific phantoms that have been seen by multiple people. The first is a woman who appears to be badly burned on one side of her face. She’s often seen hobbling along, as if in pain still. Some believe this is the manifestation of what the little girl would have grown up to look like, had she survived her accident in the pickup truck.

The other woman has a friendlier demeanor. She’s carrying a basket of flowers, cheerfully walking through the bridge. However, if a driver looks back at her, she’ll have disappeared into thin air. 

The Mysterious Creatures

In addition to the ghosts, there are two creatures said to lurk around the bridge, apparently in some kind of harmony. 

There’s a monkey-like creature with an incredibly long tail. His job is to protect the bridge from anyone who wishes to destroy or damage it. He’s said to live in the upper part of the bridge, especially in the rafters. 

Below the bridge is said to live a demon with glowing red eyes. His job is not to protect the bridge but to scare anyone away who draws close. 

What makes this bridge so worthy of having two mythical guardians? Does it have to do with the bridge being built in that volatile period of 1865? Or was the bridge built on land that has significance to the spiritual world?

That, it seems, is still a mystery. 

Haunted Baltimore

After a drive to the outskirts of Baltimore, you might find yourself wanting to return to the heart of Baltimore, where all the action lives. In that case, you’ll be thrilled to find out that downtown Baltimore offers even more ghostly sites. 

Several of the most haunted places in Baltimore had seedy histories in the past. Both Max’s Taphouse and Admiral Fell Inn previously housed brothels, and now each of them has regular phantoms who terrify and amaze guests. 

If you want to see the spookier side of Baltimore for yourself, book a ghost tour with Baltimore Ghosts. Not only will we give you all the juicy details about some of Baltimore’s most heinous crimes, but we’ll also give you the chance to see these spirits for yourself. 

If you’ve discovered a newfound interest in covered bridges (or, specifically, haunted bridges), be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. There, we’ll dive into some of the other most haunted bridges around the States. If you want to read other scary sites in Baltimore and Maryland in general, check out our blog. 

Sources:

• https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/maryland/haunted-jericho-covered-bridge-md
• https://tourbaltimoreghosts.com/
• https://preservationmaryland.org/friday-the-13th-2016-haunted-maryland/
• https://www.marylandhauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/jericho-covered-bridge.html#:~:text=This%20bridge%20was%20built%20in,slavery%20and%20the%20Civil%20War.
• https://katedolan.com/fright-night-on-jericho-bridge/