I've received several questions from a reader about the 'Goatman' phenomenon, in particular, the Pope Link Monster. I pulled up accounts from the archive and updated it a bit.
The Pope Lick Monster is/was, according to legend, a half-man, half-goat creature that lives under the Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle across Pope Lick Creek and South Pope Lick Rd. near Fisherville in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky. The stories have been used as a 'dare' that required an unfortunate sap to climb onto the trestle. These individuals were most likely under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Numerous urban legends exist about the creature’s origins and the methods it employs to claim its victims. According to some accounts, the creature uses either hypnosis or voice mimicry to lure trespassers onto the trestle to meet their death before an oncoming train. Other stories claim the monster jumps down from the trestle onto the roofs of cars passing beneath it. Yet other legends tell that it attacks its victims with a blood-stained axe. It has also been said that the very sight of the creature is so unsettling that those who see it while walking across the high trestle are driven to leap off.
Other legends explain the creature’s origins, including that it is a human-goat hybrid, and that it was a circus freak who vowed revenge after being mistreated. In one version, the creature escaped after a train derailed on the trestle. Another version claims that the monster is really the twisted reincarnated form of a farmer who sacrificed goats in exchange for Satanic powers.
The December 30, 1988, Louisville Courier-Journal ran a front-page article entitled Trestle of Death, in which it records two tragedies. Jack “J.C.” Charles Bahm II, a 17-year-old Spalding University student, was struck and killed by a train on February 18, 1987, while crossing the trestle. He has since been eulogized at the site of his death. “JC we love and miss you” is spray-painted on the trestle’s base. In May 1987, 19-year-old David Wayne Bryant died of injuries obtained in 1986 when he jumped from the trestle to dodge an oncoming locomotive.
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Nobody knows when the quiet, rural area beyond Jeffersontown first became home to the community’s strangest, and definitely scariest, resident – the Pope Lick Monster.
But tales of the creature, also known as the Sheepman, have circulated for decades in eastern Jefferson County, and as Halloween night approaches, rumors of the beast again seem to be common.
“It’s always been around J-town,” said Michael Zettler, a 1985 graduate of J-town High School. “It was always talked about, especially around Halloween.”
“I first heard of it in the early 1960s,” said Mary Ruckriegel, the wife of J-town Mayor Daniel Ruckriegel. “When I started dating Dan, the kids were always talking about it, especially during Halloween. I don’t know if it was a figment of someone’s imagination or what.”
“I can remember hearing stories of the thing when I was 4 or 5 years old,” said Rod Whitenack, a J-town native now in his early 20’s. “Every time Halloween would roll around, discussion about the monster would start up.”
There are probably as many residents of J-town as there are descriptions of the "thing" that supposedly lives below the rusty train trestle that passes over Pope Lick Road and Pope Lick Creek out Taylorsville Road near Fisherville.
Most describe the monster as a scary half-man, half-sheep, who terrorizes anyone who dares enter his domain. They say he has the features of both man and sheep, with horns, an ugly snout, and a hairy brown body. He walks upright, has hooves for feet, and can run at high speeds, enabling him to catch anyone in his territory.
Some say it is Jefferson County’s version of Ichabod Crane’s nightmare – a headless horseman-type monster who rides the tracks and kills anyone who crosses his path.
Others say it’s not a monster at all; it’s an old chemist who became a recluse after a chemical explosion in his lab terribly disfigured his face.
Others say it’s just a hermit who lived in a nearby shack and would scare away anyone who came near the trestle.
Still, others say the figure that purportedly wanders the area is the deformed son of a local farmer, so hideous he won’t show his face until nighttime.
But whatever the description, the J-town monster has several similarities with other world-famous beasts. Like the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, actual sightings of the Pope Lick Monster have been few and far between, if at all.
“There was always some guy who said he saw something out there.” Said Whitenack, who said he made many trips to the trestle. “But I never did.”
And like the Swamp Thing and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the J-town monster has even been the focus of his own local flick, titled “The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster,” which premiered in Louisville in the fall of 1988. The 16-minute, black-and-white movie has been shown at the Vogue, The Uptown, and, most recently, at the Water Tower, and has been well received by area fans.
“I was looking for a Story indigenous to the area,” said the film’s director and producer local independent filmmaker Ron Schildknecht. “And the Sheepman is something only told around here; it’s been around at least three generations.”
Before he began filming, Schildknecht put in nearly a year of research o the subject. “I talked to 50 people formally and probably 100 more informally getting as much information as I could,” he said. “Was he half-man, half-sheep?” Did he walk on all fours or on two legs? Did he murder people or was he tame? I found a lot of interpretations; it was all real scattered out.”
Half the apparent appeal has been the imposing train trestle, which has stood overlooking the area since 1929. The trestle, which is still used regularly today, spans nearly 800 feet and is about 100 feet tall.
Over the years, teenagers have been known to frequent the location in search of a remote spot where they could party without being bothered by police or parents.
“The trestles were a real popular place to go and drink and get rowdy,” Schildknecht said. “The talk of the monster makes it much more attractive to go out there.”
“It was part of a senior tradition,” Ruckriegel said. “They would go out there to see if they could see it; it was a sign of bravery.”
“The boys would take the girls out there to try to scare them,” she added. “It was something really scary.”
While the site may have provided fun for some, tragedy has also come to many who have walked the tracks. In recent years, several youths have been killed, whether from falling from the trestle or after being caught on the tracks and hit by a train.
“It’s unfortunate,” Schildknecht said. “The story of the monster seems so harmless and innocent, except for the real danger of the railroad.”
About a year ago train officials put up a chain link fence with barbed wire to keep thrill-seekers from climbing to the tracks.
But that hasn’t stopped the rumors about the monster.
When the 32-year-old Schildknecht went there to film the movie, he didn’t see the beast but admitted even he found the place a little frightening. “It’s kinda eerie,” he said, “knowing the history and that people have been killed out there.”
“I didn’t feel anything supernatural,” he said. “I was just more intrigued with the ambiance of the trestle. And it’s pretty intense when a train goes by.”
Also finding the area spooky was Zettler, one of the high schoolers who with a couple of friends made the trek to the monster’s purported stomping ground.
“It was real scary.” He said. “Even though you know the legend is silly, you still think about it.”
As long as the legend has been told, no one knows for sure how it started.
“I’ve often wondered if it was a Halloween prank,” Ruckriegel said, “and then got blown out of proportion.”
“It probably started as a man walking his goat,” Zettler said. “It’s just a bunch of stories. It’s something you hear through the years.”
And the legend still exists in the East-End community today, but only to a degree.
“I think a lot of the kids today are too smart to believe all that stuff,” Ruckriegel said. “But I guess it’s still going around.”
“The story is still being told,” Schildknecht said. As long as there’s a trestle out there and as long as there are kids in high school, it’s still alive.”
The Pope Lick Monster exists in the collective imaginations of hundreds of people,” he added, “which for me says he does exist.”
What do you think?
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Pope Lick Monster: Louisville’s Goat Man
The scene is picturesque underneath an old but very active railroad trestle in the Fisherville area of Louisville, Kentucky.
“This is the old trestle for the Northern Suffolk Railway,” explained author and historian David Domine.
Legends of the paranormal have turned this site into the center of fear and the home of a renowned creature.
Domine said, “The goat man of Pope Lick as he’s known. They say he’s part man, part goat maybe even part sheep.”
Numerous urban legends exist about the creature’s origins.
One tale Domine explained said, “The goat man arose as a tale of a local farmer back in the day. Tortured a herd of goats for Satan signed a contract with him and forfeited his soul. In the process, he was converted into this terrible creature that was sent to live under the trestle seeking revenge on people!”
Another popular legend Domine claims, “A circus train was crossing the trestle one day and it derailed and in one of the cars there was a kind of circus freak.”
Whether it is a farmer who made a deal with the devil or a so-called circus freak seeking revenge, there is one thing everyone agrees on when sharing tales about The Goat Man, and that is what he looks like.
Domine slowly describes the beast, “The legs are muscular and covered with course dark hair. He’s got the same dark hair on the parts of his body. His face is alabaster they say and he has horns as well.”
The legends don’t just stop at his gruesome features but also focus on the methods he employs to claim his victims. Narratives claim he also has the power to draw you to your death by either hypnosis or voice mimicry.
“The goat man supposedly is a very sly creature and he does all kinds of things to try and trick you into going up onto the trestle. He’s been known to mimic the voice of children who are calling for help,” stressed Domine.
Once you climb on the tracks, there’s no way to escape death from an oncoming train.
Domine removed the smirk from his face and got serious as he explained, “It’s a very dangerous location. Many people think that this trestle is not used, but trains cross here every day.”
There have been several deaths and accidents at the trestle since its construction although signs tell thrill seekers to keep out!
Domine continued, “In the late 80s a movie was made by local filmmaker Rod Schildknecht. Other people have come out here and done documentaries. He’s appeared on several national networks in documentaries and programs about strange creatures and hauntings across the United States.”
The legend of the Kentucky Bigfoot is alive and strong today but Domine stressed about this creature, “Kentucky Sasquatch that’s a whole other thing from the description from people who have seen him. It doesn’t sound like the same thing at all. The strange accounts still pour into this day.”
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