JAYLEE ROSE – FIERRO
Staff Writer
Tulare is a small city in California, only occupied by a population of 63,000. In this small town lies Bardsley Road. Home to small companies such as Diana’s Furniture and a Foodmart. But small shops and groceries aren’t the only ones occupying Bardsley Road.
In 1940, two high school boys built up a “phantom on Bardsley road” story that was not to be taken too seriously but soon became a town legend. According to the boys the phantom, “Had no head and rode a snow-white honda motorcycle. Those who encounter him will suffer a great accident.” As the story went around, more details were added and the original story seemed to get lost in the slander. However, one man claimed to have truly encountered something not of this world on the road. He claimed he was driving south towards Bardsley Road when his car swerved and wrecked into a house. When medical arrived, the car was severely damaged, but the man inside was not. He was left without a mark. Everything seemed to be fine, except for the fact that the man was dead. In the early years, the story became so widely known in the small town that it even earned its own tune. “Ghost of Bardsley Road”, by Dane Sturgeon.
They found him in his auto, way out east of town.
Death had claimed this teen-age kid, by the time that he was found.
There was no trace, and not a mark upon his body showed.
They say he was scared to death by the Ghost of Bardsley Road.
On his snow-white Honda he drags the countryside,
A ghost machine burning’ up the road.
If you put him to the test you’ll come up second best,
And you’ll know you’ve raced the Ghost of Bardsley Road.