Champaign County derives its name from the French word for “plain,” indicating that its original explorers found the area extremely flat (this is debatable). Its county seat is Urbana, taken from the Latin “urbane.” The county has an area of 428.56 square miles and a population of about 38,890. Perhaps significantly not haunted, it has almost fewer ghost stories than any other Ohio county, mostly restricted to sites that no longer exist (Urbana’s “Hell House” and Cable’s “Crybaby Bridge” come to mind). However, it does have plenty of notable cemeteries, from Simon Kenton’s memorial in Oak Dale Cemetery to the ostensibly-haunted tombstone in the second floor stairwell of Urbana University’s Browne Hall.
September 20, 2009 at 10:08 pm
I am from the area & need directions to crybaby bridge..I think I know where it is I am just unsure of how to get there..
September 20, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Actually, the Cable Crybaby Bridge was demolished five years ago. Blue Road in Cable now goes over the spot, but there is no haunted activity linked with it.
If you’re driving from Urbana, east-ish on 296, turn right on Black Road and simply follow it until it intersects with Blue. This is where the bridge used to be.