SUICIDE BRIDGE

SUICIDE BRIDGE 

I wrote this review a long time ago for yelp, I figure that I'd rather post it here before Yelp decides to delete it as I found it to be one of my better reviews. So enjoy a morbid sense of perspective of a me from yesteryear.

Millions of people pass by it weekly and yet you only often hear someone toss out an occasional "Hey, it's suicide bridge".

This seems more like a road along the way than a proper destination, but I assure you that there's plenty of history and strangeness as well as beauty to this spot to turn it into a place you can reconsider into being a destination instead of just a path gone through.

First off, it's beautifully lit at night with very old school style lamps. Park on the street that is parallel to it and jump out of your car and walk the bridge. It's more than likely not going to have much car travel. There's a lot of little indents where you can just park your butt. I used to come here when I first went exploring through Los Angeles and I found this to be a very calming place.

I could just sit up here with a cup of 7-11 coffee and really clear my mind. Which I suppose is what those many who came here to clear their mind as well, only, theirs were cleared with the help of pavement hitting it as they jumped. It's not called Suicide bridge for nothing, now.

The first recorded suicide was on November 16, 1919 and during the great depression nearly 50 suicides happened between 1933 till 1937. Other reports suggest that 95 people jumped off this bridge between 1919 and 1937.

In 1993 it went through a 27 million dollar renovation which added suicide barriers. But as a testimony of the human will, you will constantly see balloons attached to the edge of the bridge. Yes, that's right, no matter if you bar it up, people will find a way to kill themselves here.

But besides all the death that happened here, it's really pretty bridge. I suppose if I wanted to end it all, this would be a great last view. Just have to close your eyes as you jumped. And really, if you have no intention on jumping, it's still a great place to sit back and watch the sun go down. You'll see the mountains to the north look amazing with the sun's light basking on them. The rose bowl sitting there perfectly and the view to the south is sort of like watching untamed nature as you can't really see all the homes with the thick trees.

But most of all, for those of you looking for Ghost hunting adventures, this place is a gold mine! How could it not be with all the death that happened here. Several spirits are said to haunt the bridge.

One ghost is a man with wire rimmed glasses and there's a vanishing woman in a long flowing robe. She's often seen standing atop one of the parapets, vanishing as she throws herself off. Consider it something like dinner theatre!

And if you want to trip out, look down. Below the bridge there is said to be a lot of ghost who walk the river bed. I have been running at night in said river bed.. it's creepy as hell. Strange sounds and cries echo there.

Now I'm not one to actually believe in Ghost stories, but there has been many times when it just gets really misty down there. Animals have been reported to act strange in the area as well. And the homeless, who you can really trust as a reliable source, have said that they have seen ghostly figures while they camp under the bridge.

Why anyone would want to be caught standing UNDER a bridge that has been known for people throwing themselves off it? I have no idea. It would be a good idea to come with an umbrella.

The most famous of the ghost stories is one death that happened in 1937. It's said that a mother, who was just left by her husband/father of her child was unable to get work, she resorted to just ending it all for both herself and her baby. Tossing first her baby and then herself off the side.. Only, the baby got caught in the tree branches and survived. The mother, who died in the jump is rumored to wander around the bridge searching for her baby..

And while I'm sure the builders never thought it would get a nickname of "Suicide Bridge", I'm sure they're just going to enjoy it. Besides, they're all dead anyway. The thing was built in 1912. A little under one hundred years old.

And if you don't want to go on here for the Ghost, you can always wander around it because of the historic value that this was part of Route 66 from 1926 through 1940