Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainAn abandoned iron bridge on a decommissioned dead-end road near Salem, Ohio, recognized as one of the state's most-visited 'Crybaby Bridge' sites, with documented legends and a 2022 documentary TV episode.
West Pine Lake Road (off Egypt Road / Township Highway 766), Salem, OH 44460
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
No admission. However, the bridge is on private property (Perry Township); the current property owner has requested police enforce trespassing laws. Visit at your own risk — roadside viewing only from Egypt Road is the safest approach.
Access
Limited Access
Unpaved dead-end road, overgrown vegetation, iron bridge structure. Not maintained.
Equipment
Photos OK
Abandoned 1985 by Columbiana County Engineer · One of Ohio's most-cited Crybaby Bridge sites · 2010 Ardes Bauman homicide nearby (documented)
The bridge located on what was historically known as West Pine Lake Road, off Egypt Road in Perry Township, Columbiana County, was an iron truss structure documented in local records by at least 1977. The road and bridge were abandoned by the Columbiana County Engineer in 1985 after property owner Richard Johnson requested their removal from the county road system.
Nature has since reclaimed the road and structure. Overgrown trees and brush conceal the rusting ironwork, and the former road now terminates as an unmaintained dead end east of the bridge. The structure is on private property in Perry Township.
By the early 2000s the site had become one of Columbiana County's most frequently referenced paranormal destinations, drawing visitors who had heard local legends about cries heard from the creek below. In 2021, the property owner publicized a request to Salem News for police to begin charging trespassers, citing safety concerns about the deteriorating structure and the volume of nighttime visitors.
In October 2010, the body of Ardes Bauman, 60, was found burned inside a van parked near the bridge. The Columbiana County Coroner ruled the death a homicide. The case added a documented true-crime dimension to the site's dark history.
Sources
The Egypt Road Crybaby Bridge legend has circulated in Columbiana County since at least the 1930s, with multiple competing origin stories. The most widely repeated account involves a couple whose toddler fell from the bridge into the creek below while the parents were arguing; a second version describes a mother throwing her infant from the bridge before jumping herself. A third account, noted by the Architectural Afterlife blog citing local sources, describes a mother who 'racked with guilt after hearing the screams and cries of the dying child, then threw herself over the edge, landing on her head and died.'
Reported phenomena include phantom infant cries heard in both daytime and nighttime conditions, handprints appearing on vehicle surfaces near the bridge, and accounts of an invisible force attempting to push visitors toward the creek. Some visitors describe a female apparition at the far end of the bridge structure.
Local paranormal chronicler WFMJ-TV (NBC affiliate, Youngstown) documented the site's persistence as a regional destination in a 2015 broadcast feature, noting that 'all of Egypt Road is haunted' according to area residents. In 2022, the site was featured in the documentary series episode 'Crybaby Bridges: Salem, Ohio' (IMDb tt14792450).
Dark folklore beyond the infant legend includes reports of satanic cult activity beginning in 1983 with animal carcasses found near the bridge. The 2010 homicide of Ardes Bauman in the immediate vicinity is a documented factual event that has since woven into the site's reputation.
Media Appearances
Drive or walk Egypt Road to the dead end where West Pine Lake Road branches off toward the bridge. The iron truss structure is visible from the road's end. The property beyond is private; do not trespass.
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