GETTYSBURG
HAUNTED LOCATIONS

Historic Sachs
Covered Bridge

Sachs Covered Bridge has stood over Marsh Creek since 1852, when Gettysburg-area builder David S. Stoner constructed the roughly 100-foot span. The bridge uses a distinctive wooden lattice-truss system derived from the design patented by architect and engineer Ithiel Town. Today, visitors can still cross the bridge on foot, peer through its crisscrossed wooden framework, and take in views of Marsh Creek and the quiet countryside surrounding it.

Its most significant chapter came during the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863. Soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies crossed the bridge, and Confederate forces traveled through the area as they withdrew following the Battle of Gettysburg. In recognition of its historical significance, the Pennsylvania Department of Highways named Sachs the state’s “most historic bridge” in 1938, and the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Sachs has also proven remarkably resilient. Automobile traffic was discontinued in 1968, allowing the bridge to become a pedestrian landmark. In 1996, severe flooding swept the bridge from its foundations and carried it downstream. Rather than allowing the historic structure to disappear, preservation efforts recovered, repaired, and returned it to its place over Marsh Creek.

Its documented history, however, is only part of the reason people continue to seek out Sachs Covered Bridge.

Over the years, the bridge has become one of the best-known paranormal locations in the Gettysburg area. Visitors, ghost hunters, and paranormal investigation groups have described hearing unexplained footsteps and voices, encountering sudden areas of cold air, seeing unusual lights, and experiencing the feeling that someone — or something — is nearby. Some accounts even describe shadowy figures or apparent apparitions around the bridge and along the creek.

A particularly persistent story claims that Confederate soldiers were executed by hanging from the bridge. Although the tale has become firmly embedded in Gettysburg ghost lore, historians have not uncovered contemporary documentation proving that such executions took place at Sachs. The distinction is important: the bridge has a genuine and fascinating Civil War history without the need to present later legends as established fact.

During daylight hours, Sachs is a peaceful and photogenic red covered bridge, popular with sightseers and photographers. After sunset, the character of the location changes completely.

The interior becomes shadowed, the water of Marsh Creek can be heard moving beneath the wooden floor, and even small sounds seem to travel through the enclosed structure. Beyond the bridge, the rural landscape grows dark and quiet, creating an atmosphere far removed from the crowds and activity of downtown Gettysburg.

For paranormal investigators, that combination of authentic history, longstanding reports of unusual activity, darkness, isolation, and natural quiet makes Sachs Covered Bridge an especially intriguing place to spend time after dark.

It is a location where the best approach is simple: slow down, listen carefully, observe your surroundings, and see what happens.