Morrow Road is a southeast Michigan rural road that until recently was entirely a dirt road.
The 2.5 mile road's southern portion rests in Clay Twp (on the outskirts of Algonac) and
northern portion rests in Cottrellville Twp (on the outskirts of Marine City). The entire road
is a straightaway and has very few citizens living on it. Recently more citizens have moved
into its southern half. The road began as a cow path in the 19th century and later became a narrow
dirt road, which was eventually widened.
The road also has two creeks that run under it, one on its north end and one near its center-point,
just south of where the only other fully intersecting road is. Hence, there used to be two small, simple-railed
bridges. Both of these were tore down and converted into culverts. As with most backroads, Morrow Road
started out with no electricity running to it and had one two-story house. An old house was tore down
recently, although it may not have been the original house.

In the late 1800s a woman supposedly with the initials "I.C." apparently died a tragic death searching for her
child boy. Many believe that the death was so tragic that her ghost spirit remains haunting the road to this day,
still searching in an eternal frustration for that impossible to achieve answer of what happened to the boy.

What makes the legend more interesting and startling is the different beliefs of what exactly happened to the
mother & child. Research shows there are about ten theories as to how this occurred and each has slight
variations. Nearly every version of the legend has these common denominators: A middle-aged woman died
in her nightgown searching for her child, and that her spirit remains as a vengeful ghost to this day--
still searching for the young boy. Here's where the versions alter: (See if you've heard any of these :)

Many believe the boy was kidnapped and that the mother searched in desperation, and died searching.

Some believed the boy drowned when the mother took her eyes off him for a moment. This version is a rare
version where she apparently did find the boy face down in a nearby creek. In despair, the mother hung herself.

Some believe that the two-story house they lived in was burglarized and that they were murdered.

Some believe that when the mother last saw the child not too far away from a fire...and then he was never seen again.
The mother searched for the boy around the fire, fearing for the worse. Never finding the child's remains, she died
searching for the boy...some believe she even died in a fire herself.
(This is why you see her face in a fire if a fire is lit near the bridge--explained below).

Others believe in an entirely opposite type of death: That they both froze to death. The boy wandered out of the
home, the mother unaware. When the mother realized he was gone, she searched frantically for the boy during an
unprecedented winter storm, and froze to death in her unsuccessful search.

Still others believe in a simple theory: That the boy was murdered, which led to the mother to search for the boy
near the bridge they lived near. The murderer (motive unknown, possibly rape) waited for the woman to search near
the bridge and kidnapped and murdered her.

Early versions of the legend actually didn't involve a mother! This radically different (and unpopular today)
theory involved a monster that ate babies/children! It was called "The Morrow Road Monster" by locals,
and was a popular theory in the 1950s. There is no evidence to support this theory.*

Contrasting, a hugely popular theory involved local Natives. Some believe that local Natives savagely attacked
the mother while she was searching for her missing child. Some believe she haunts the road to this day because
a nearby Indian burial ground may have been near the death site of the mother. There is no evidence to support
this theory,* but local Natives of the time included Algonquin, Huron and Erie.

Finally, one of the most popular theories was that the mother had the child out of wedlock. Simply not wanting
the baby, she went to the bridge and left the boy under the bridge--abandoning him. Feeling shame and remorse
on her way back home, she decided she couldn't go through with it and upon arriving at the bridge the baby was
gone. This was the beginning of years of searching, until she finally gave up. Upon her early death,
many believed she was cursed for her actions and her eternal punishment is to haunt the road
searching for the lost child.

A startling fact is how many people claim to have seen the woman, heard the child, or witnessed other paranormal
occurrences on or near the road. These include many witnesses to seeing the ghostly woman herself, always wearing
a light blue nightgown (believed by many to be the outfit she wore on her death) searching with bloody hands for
the child. Many claimed she has morbidly asked or screamed "Where's my baby?" as driver's drove past. Others claim
she has slammed her mysteriously bloody hands on their car window in addition.

Many locals have claimed "if you start a fire on the road where the southern bridge was, you will see her face
in the flames." (That is illegal by-the-way, so don't try it). This supports the theory that something tragic happened to
her and/or the child on or near the bridge and their lives ended in flames.
Currently this element to the legend hasn't had an eye-witness account in many years.

Many believe that if you honk your car-horn three times on the bridge you will hear the baby cry.

Also, many claim to have vehicle trouble when driving down the road.
There are more eyewitness claims to seeing "orbs" on the road and in the woods than any of the above.
Many other people also state the orbs went as far as to chase their vehicle. Most claim the orbs were light green,
but some say they've seen them red, purple and light blue, all in small, varying sizes.

Naturally, local police have had many "false claims," that turned out to be young adults playing pranks.
All accounts are claimed to have been seen or heard only at nighttime.

Channel 4 Local News with Carmen Harlan did a news report near turn of the century on the legend, and the
TV Show "Unsolved Mysteries" had a filler-feature on an episode, watering down the legend to be a filler between
the episode's two major features.

Paranormal research has been done many times, always with interesting results. The legend has been
all over the Internet and an independent feature film based entirely on the legend is in the works.
For more information on the film and legend, visit www.morrowroad.com.

Written in 2009 by Francis J. Sampier, based on extensive research acquired for the film Morrow Road in 2005.