It happened more than 130 years ago, but people are still talking about it.

The Kate Shelley bridge made the list of Spookologist’s 5 Scariest Iowa Spots. They noted that although the original bridge is long gone, the nearly identical bridge that replaced it is home to phantom train sightings. Some people report that they’ve witnessed the ghost of Kate Shelley crawling across the tracks.

This bridge in Boone is known locally as the "Kate Shelley Bridge" and it may be the longest extant double-track railroad viaduct on Earth.
Amphibol/Wikimedia
FlyRC/Trip Advisor
There's more to this bridge than its age and construction details, though. The story of Kate Shelley is well documented, and even though it happened in 1881, we know a lot about her and what happened on July 6th of that year.
Kate Shelley was just a teenager. This bridge spans the Des Moines River, and it's high enough that most people don't want to try to walk across.
PN Rao/Trip Advisor
The evening of July 6, 1881, there was a terrible crash. The trestle over Honey Creek gave way to flood waters, sending an engine crashing into the creek. There were four men aboard.
A passenger train was due later than night, and Kate Shelley knew that she had to somehow get word to Mongoina's Chicago and Northwestern Depot that the people aboard were headed to their death unless they stopped the train.
PN Rao/Trip Advisor
That night, there was a wild storm complete with thunder, lightning, and high winds.
The only way to get the message to the depot and save the passengers on the incoming train was to cross the High Bridge. On foot.
PN Rao/Flickr
Near midnight, Kate set out on her journey.

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The wind whipped so hard that she had to cross on her hands and knees. Trees crashed around her and the sky was full of lightning.
PN Rao/Trip Advisor
She made it across the bridge inch-by-inch, and the personnel at the depot got word to the passenger train. It stopped just in time. Kate didn't stop, though. She knew the men in the crashed engine in Honey Creek were probably injured, and she knew how to get to them. She led a rescue party back to the two survivors of that train wreck.
Kate got a gold medal made by Tiffany & Co from the State of Iowa for her bravery.
Library of Congress/Wikimedia
David Wilson/Wikimedia
The schoolgirls of Dubuque also gave her a medal. Both of those artifacts and the lantern that Kate carried as she crossed the bridge on the night of July 6, 1881 are in the Kate Shelley Museum.
You can visit the Kate Shelley Park & Museum located at 1198 232nd St., Boone by appointment. The site and the trails around the museum are open to the public year round.
Boone History Museums Website
Boone History Museums Website
The park and museum is in a wooded valley about five miles southwest of the town of Boone. Inside the depot, you can see a video about the Kate Shelley story. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for youth, and children 6 and under are free. To make an appointment, call 515.432.1907.

 

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