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All the United States New York State New York City Sleepy Hollow Headless Horseman Bridge
AO Edited

Headless Horseman Bridge

The real-life site of Ichabod Crane's infamous gourd attack.

Sleepy Hollow, New York

Added By
Fred Cherrygarden
Email
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The Old Dutch Church   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
The Old Dutch Church   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
The river runs through it.   alittlebrowndog / Atlas Obscura User
  SemiruralYeti / Atlas Obscura User
Headless Horseman Bridge Sign in the dead of night!   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
The Headless Horseman Bridge, 2022.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
A sign standing by the bridge.   Chmpgnrose
A horseless Headless Horseman standing on the bridge, October 2009.   darlingtrk
A 1910’s postcard depicting the bridge.   Detroit Publishing Company
  ickaimp / Atlas Obscura User
“and he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the Devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was—a woman.” Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
  sorcha1977 / Atlas Obscura User
  sorcha1977 / Atlas Obscura User
  sorcha1977 / Atlas Obscura User
The Headless Horseman Bridge, 2009.   Samantha Chapnick
An illustration for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1858).   John Quidor
  jyackabonis / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Washington Irving certainly put Sleepy Hollow on the map with his 1820 Gothic horror story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In it, the gloomy town is said to be haunted by the ghost of a Hessian soldier in search of his head, which he's said to have lost to a cannonball while fighting in the American Revolution. While the story may evoke more fear than intrigue in the small town, it is of course completely fictional (and in fact a rather charming town). The bridge that sets the story's climax, however, is very much real. 

After the protagonist Ichabod Crane leads the Headless Horseman on a horseback chase through the woods in the dark of night, he's finally caught at the foot of a wooden bridge that stretches over the Pocantico River (in many folktales, bridges symbolize a liminal space between the realms of the living and the dead). The Headless Horseman hurls a pumpkin at Crane, striking him in the head and leaving him to an unclear fate. Come morning, all that's found are Crane's trampled saddle and broken chunks of pumpkin.

At the time of its writing, there was an actual wooden bridge at the site of Crane's fictional gourd attack. While it was replaced by a more modern, concrete iteration in 1912 by William Rockerfeller, the structure is still known as "The Headless Horseman Bridge." You can walk across it or have someone chase you for the real Crane experience—just look out for pumpkins. 

Related Tags

Horror Literature New York Bridges

Community Contributors

Added By

Fred Cherrygarden

Edited By

Martin, cjklever, ickaimp, blimpcaptain...

  • Martin
  • cjklever
  • ickaimp
  • blimpcaptain
  • SemiruralYeti
  • alittlebrowndog
  • jyackabonis
  • sorcha1977
  • Julius Spada
  • amberbluemayer

Published

June 3, 2020

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Sources
  • https://nyhistoric.com/2011/10/headless-horseman-bridge-sleepy-hollow/
  • https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/7721
Headless Horseman Bridge
415 Broadway
Sleepy Hollow, New York
United States
41.089723, -73.861854
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, New York

miles away

Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate

Sleepy Hollow, New York

miles away

Chagall and Matisse Glass

Sleepy Hollow, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow

New York

Places 4

Nearby Places

The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, New York

miles away

Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate

Sleepy Hollow, New York

miles away

Chagall and Matisse Glass

Sleepy Hollow, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow

New York

Places 4

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