According to Newman, the bridge is known locally by a number of names including the Smoky Hill Road Bridge, Third Bridge and Ghost Bridge.

The bridge is reputedly haunted by the remnants of the Hungate Massacre that occurred here on 11th June, 1864, when Nathan Hungate, his wife and two daughters were apparently murdered here by Native Americans.

The effects reported include an apparition on horseback and a cold fog that surrounds witnesses, being physically pushed, the sounds of drums and girls laughing and crying. It is also alleged that two teenage girls were killed in a car collision here in 1997, and that some of the phenomena results from that event.