Est. 1890 · 19th-century railroad bridge in Craighead County · A recurring subject of Northeast Arkansas ghost lore and local news coverage
Bono Bridge stood in the town of Bono, in Craighead County, Northeast Arkansas, a short distance west of Jonesboro. According to a 2021 KAIT8 (Jonesboro) report and other local accounts, the bridge dated to the 1800s and was associated with the area's railroad history.
The bridge's wooden elements were reported torn down in the early 2000s, and the structure was ultimately demolished around 2011. As a result, the original span no longer exists; what remains is the location and the body of folklore attached to it.
Formal historical documentation of the bridge is limited. Most published material about it comes from local news coverage of its ghost legend and from paranormal-interest sources rather than from engineering or preservation records, which is consistent with its character as a modest rural railroad crossing rather than a landmark structure.
Sources
- https://www.kait8.com/2022/10/28/hidden-haunts-girl-who-roams-bono-bridge/
- https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/arkansas/ar-haunted-streets
Illusion of an oncoming train viewed from the bridgeApparition of a transparent young girl on the tracksReported screams near the former bridge
The Bono Bridge legend has two main strands. The first is an optical effect rather than a ghost story: those who stood on the bridge and looked down the railroad tracks reportedly experienced the unnerving illusion that an approaching train was about to hit them just before it passed beneath the span.
The second and better-known strand concerns the apparition of a child. In a 2022 KAIT8 'Hidden Haunts' field report, Jonesboro-area paranormal investigator Doug Cousins described "a girl that walks the tracks certain nights," whom he characterized as "transparent, light colored. A child." Cousins conducted on-site investigation using audio equipment and documented unexplained sounds during the session. Visitors have also reported hearing screams of a girl from around a bend near the former bridge site. Cousins separately stated his belief that occult groups had gathered beneath the bridge; this claim is presented as his account only and is not independently documented.
The site is independently documented in local Northeast Arkansas news coverage as a fixture of regional ghost lore, and the paranormal tradition is corroborated beyond the original Shadowlands submission by the KAIT8 field investigation. Because the original bridge has been demolished, visitors can only view the general area from public roads.
Notable Entities
The girl who walks the tracks
Media Appearances
- KAIT8 'Hidden Haunts' segment (2022)
Where this legend is told
Aerial survey · USDA NAIP