Ghost stagecoach and drummer boy of M Street Bridge

The original wooden bridge over Rock Creek was built in 1788. Tragically for one stagecoach driver and his horse, the bridge was not sturdy enough to withstand the onslaught of raging wind and rain.

It collapsed, taking with it the stagecoach driver and his horse, who drowned.

Accounts differ on whether the stagecoach had passengers.

It wasn’t the first such drowning for that area of Rock Creek. During the Revolutionary War, a young drummer boy drowned trying to cross the waters on his way to muster in Virginia.

Both have been said to haunt the M Street Bridge on stormy nights.

People have claimed to see the stagecoach race toward the bridge from the Georgetown side only to disappear when it hits the new span.

Others say they’ve heard drumming near the spot where the boy drowned.