White Lick Creek facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White Lick Creek |
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White Lick Creek in Plainfield, Indiana
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Map of White Lick Creek
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| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| Region | Central Indiana |
| District | Boone County Hendricks County Morgan County |
| Municipality | Fayette Brownsburg Plainfield Mooresville Martinsville |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Fayette, Indiana, United States 39°58′23″N 86°25′22″W / 39.97306°N 86.42278°W |
| River mouth | Centerton, Indiana, United States 39°29′35″N 86°23′20″W / 39.49306°N 86.38889°W |
| Basin features | |
| River system | White River (West Fork) |
| Tributaries |
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White Lick Creek is a stream in central Indiana, United States. It's about 47.7 miles (76.8 kilometers) long. This creek starts in Boone County, near a town called Fayette. It then flows south and joins the White River close to Centerton.
Contents
What's in a Name? The Story of White Lick Creek
White Lick Creek gets its name from a special place called a mineral lick. A mineral lick is an area where animals, like deer, come to lick salt and other important minerals from the ground. These spots are very popular with wildlife.
In the past, this stream had a few different names. People sometimes called it East Lick Creek. Other names included White Lick River, Whitelick Creek, and Whitelick River.
The Mystery of the Haunted White Lick Creek Bridge
There's a famous urban legend about a railroad bridge over White Lick Creek. This bridge is located just south of U.S. Highway 36, between the towns of Danville and Avon. The legend says that the bridge is haunted by the ghost of an Irish immigrant named "Dad" Jones.
The Legend of "Dad" Jones
"Dad" Jones was one of the workers helping to build the original bridge. During its construction, something terrible happened to him. The story says his spirit still stays in the area around the bridge.
The workers were pouring concrete into large wooden frames to build the bridge. One day, "Dad" Jones was on a wooden platform above one of these frames. Suddenly, the platform broke! He fell into the wet concrete below. His co-workers could only watch, unable to help, as he slowly sank deeper. They could hear him hitting the sides of the framework until he sadly suffocated.
What Happened Next?
The construction company and the other workers didn't know what to do. It was decided that it would be too hard and too expensive to remove his body from the dried concrete. Even though his co-workers didn't want to keep building with his body inside, the company insisted that the bridge had to be finished.
For many years after the bridge was built, local people reported strange things. They said they could still hear screams and pounding sounds coming from a specific concrete support pillar of the bridge.
The New Bridge
Eventually, the original bridge was taken down. A new bridge was built in its place. You can still find the remains of the old bridge near the new one. Even today, some locals say they can still hear the screams and pounding sounds coming from the bridge. It's a spooky story that has been passed down through generations!
