Case file · Cryptid
Goatman of Prince George's County
An urban legend of a half-man, half-goat creature blamed for killing dogs in the woods of Prince George's County, Maryland, first written up in a 1971 University of Maryland folklore project and then in the local press.
1971 CE · 38.99, -76.88 · status: legend
The account
Stories place him on Tucker Road in Fort Washington or Fletchertown Road near Bowie, sometimes as a scientist from the nearby Beltsville Agricultural Research Center whose experiment went wrong. Teenagers drove out to 'Goatman's Bridge' for decades.
The sceptical view
A classic urban legend, spread through teenagers' dares; dog deaths set in the 1930s were more likely caused by passing trains.