Halloween: Myths and Legends in Your City

Today’s water cooler gossip around the office about Halloween – last weekend’s costume parties, what will your kids be, urban legends and lore – led to more reminiscent conversations about the many myths and legends in our fair city…and how those were part of the theme of Halloween for us in high school and college.

I’ve chosen a few that are considered to be the most popular during Halloween…and I’ve been to each of these.

The Donkey Lady Bridge. The story of the Donkey Lady, like most legends, has a number of interpretations. The quick version of the story I heard growing up and most often referred to went like this: an old lady had a donkey for which she depply cared. Fast forward…she was protecting her donkey from some men she encountered on a bridge while walking the donkey. A misunderstanding and a small skirmish resulted in the donkey’s demise…into the water below. The men mimicked the donkey’s cry as it drowned. The lady retaliated by pelting them with rocks, and they reacted by tossing her into the river. Her body never surfaced.

Today, it is said that if you park on the bridge at night (of course), you can hear the hoofs of the donkey followed by barage of rocks from all directions. If you’re interested in more detail, this is the best version of the story I could scrounge up. Here’s an image and map of the bridge on Google Maps.

Midget Mansion. Sure its not politically correct, but this legend is perhaps the most debated. The location of the Midget Mansion has resulted in many differences of opinion. A map of the real location can be found below.

It was thought that in the early 1900s, a wealthy businessman who was himself a little person, lived in this estate. He arrived at the home and murdered his family…and himself. Whether or not this is the case and how it was done becomes lost in translation, although I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere. If you didn’t have the opportunity to visit the site, you’re out of luck. Sitting on the property is a large apartment complex called Promontory Pointe. Prior to its construction all that was left was the winding driveway (access from Donore as seen in red on the map) and the foundations of the mansion and adjacent living quarters, complete with a stone well (which one of my friends fell into on Halloween during my junior year of high school), the huge double stairway, which led down to a fountain in the front yard. It was definitely a great place for Halloween. This account is by far the most accurate I’ve found on the Internet especially with regard to the various locations it is believed to have been.

Children of the Tracks (aka. Ghost Tracks). Also located on the Southside of San Antonio by Mission San Juan are the ghost tracks. A schoolbus full of children were killed in a tragic accident when the bus stalled on the tracks. The legend says that any car stopping on these tracks will be pushed across by the children. Nonsense? Maybe. I remember trying this one Halloween (there’s usually a line to do this, by the way). You’re supposed to put talcum powder on your trunk and rear bumper, and place the car in neutral, which we did. And the car did roll across the tracks. Well, I’m no rocket surgeon. But the prints in the talcum powder are simply your own oils absorbing the powder to recreate the pattern of fingerprints. Although some claimed to have seen small handprints on their car. Of course, the slight incline of the road explains the car’s tendency forward. The picture below was taken awhile back, but I can only imagine it is a spot on the lens of the camera or a good Photoshop.

Photo: Andy & Debi Chesney

The authenticity of the picture isn’t the only thing questioned with regard to this story. There are no records of the accident ever taking place. Using this argument against someone telling you the story usually results with a “they didn’t keep records back then” rationalization. Either way, this is by far the most popular of the three, especially this time of year. Once upon a time there was even a phone number for the donkey lady. I used to make my brother listen to it when we were younger. It was only a poor computer (midi) recreation of a donkey neigh followed by trotting. Pretty scary!

I’m interested in hearing similar myths and legends in your cities or towns. Share your story with us by leaving a comment…and have a Happy [and safe] Halloween. In the meantime, enjoy this post at thoughtfulconsideration.com titled, Trick or Treat Doggie Style.

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