The Abandoned Hickory Street Phantom Bridge, Warner, Ohio

Welcome back to another episode of History in Your Own Backyard. I'm your host Susie Sellick, here today in Washington County, Ohio, at the abandoned Hickory Street-Duck Creek Bridge. Stay tuned, I'll tell you all about it. 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. On the other hand, 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 trip. Phantom bridges were usually bypassed after the current roadway was realigned. A phantom bridge can usually be located near a bridge currently in use, and a good way to spot a phantom bridge is to look to the left and right when crossing a bridge. Sometimes these bridges may be up to a hundred yards up or downstream from the current bridge location. Now that we know about ghost roads and phantom bridges, let's take a look at this old bridge. Located just north of the town of Warner in Washington County, Ohio, is the abandoned Hickory Street Bridge. This three-span concrete arch bridge is reported to have been built in 1914 and may have been in use up until the 1980s before it was abandoned. The bridge is about 100 feet long and spans Duck Creek. Originally it connected the town of Warner with McGrath Road on the opposite side of the creek. It sits about 200 feet off the main road and can't even be seen from the roadway during the summertime due to all the vegetation that has grown up around it. The bridge is in pretty bad shape and eventually will collapse into the creek below, which is another piece of history slowly fading away. Thank you for joining us on another episode of History in Your Own Backyard. Hope you enjoyed your time with us here today in Washington County, Ohio at the abandoned Hickory Street Duck Creek Bridge. Hope you enjoyed your time with us and learned a little something. Remember, travel slowly and stop often. Bye for now!