This Bridge is Considered One of Cleveland’s Most "Haunted" Locations

Cleveland, Ohio is home to the historic Sidaway Bridge, a suspension bridge. It connects the Slavic Village and Kinsman districts by spanning the Kingsbury Run ravine for 680 feet, making it the only suspension bridge in the city.

Photo byJonathan KlokonUnsplash

These magnificent 158-foot-tall steel towers support the entire bridge. Sidaway Bridge was first built as a wooden footbridge in 1909, but when the Nickel Plate Railroad's growth required a redesign, it was replaced in 1930 with the current suspension construction.

This unusual bridge, which reflects Cleveland's industrial past and creative architectural design, is still a noteworthy icon in the city.

Kingsbury Run area - a haunted area

During the Great Depression, the Kingsbury Run region became a shanty area for displaced and out-of-work people.

Around 1934, Kingsbury Run started to see the first corpses. The serial murderer responsible was nicknamed the “Cleveland Torso Murderer". The killer, “Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run”, was never caught, and the location gained notoriety as a consequence.

In an effort to put an end to the murders, Safety Director Eliot Ness set fire to the whole shanty town.

Sidaway BridgePhoto bySidaway Bridge/Wikipedia Commons

Closing down the bridge

The neighborhood just got worse. Riots broke out in the Hough area in 1966, escalating racial tensions.

Someone set fire to the bridge during the 1966 Hough riots, which took place 2 miles north of the bridge.

Students from Kinsman crossed to a Jackowo elementary school via the Sidaway Bridge. Someone broke up planks and set fire to the bridge during the riots in a symbolic and physical attempt to keep Black children out of white schools.

No one was ever charged with the crime, but it was generally perceived as a racially motivated attempt to divide the predominantly white community of Slavic Village from the majority-black neighborhood of Kinsman.

Sidaway BridgePhoto bySidaway Bridge/Wikipedia

Following the vandalism in 1966, the city of Cleveland removed the majority of the bridge's wooden planking and closed it to the public. Since then, it has remained shuttered and abandoned.

Now, the Sidaway Bridge remains the city's only suspension bridge and an unintended reminder of segregation in Cleveland.

In October 2022, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Sidaway BridgePhoto bySidaway Bridge/Wikipedia

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidaway_Bridge
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sidaway-bridge
• https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/762