Stuckey's Bridge is a bridge spanning the

Chunky River The Chunky River is a short tributary of the Chickasawhay River in east-central Mississippi. Via the Chickasawhay, it is part of the watershed of the Pascagoula River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Course The river is formed between t ...

just outside

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County and the principal city of the Meri ...

. The bridge was listed as a

Mississippi Landmark The following is a list of Mississippi Landmarks officially nominated by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and approved by each county's chancery clerk. The Mississippi Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition bestow ...

on August 4, 1984, and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

on November 16, 1988.

History

The bridge was originally built as the main route across the

southwest of Meridian. Documents in the Lauderdale County Archives reveal the contract to construct a bridge in this location was written in 1847, and estimates place the bridge's construction date around 1850. A new bridge replaced the old one in 1901, built by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company.

Legends

According to legend, a member of the

Dalton Gang The Dalton Gang was a group of outlaws in the American Old West during 1890–1892. It was also known as The Dalton Brothers because four of its members were brothers. The gang specialized in bank and train robberies. During an attempted doubl ...

named "Stuckey" owned a nearby inn where he would rob and murder his guests and bury his victims’ bodies on the riverbank. The legend says that after murdering twenty people, Stuckey was finally caught and hanged from the newly constructed bridge located on the site of his murders. Rumours of Stuckey haunting the bridge arose as well as claimed sightings of an old man carrying a

lantern A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...

along the river's edge, loud splashes that supposedly represent Stuckey's body hitting the water after his

noose A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot. The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...

was cut, and visions of his lifeless corpse hanging from the bridge.

In the media

Television

Stuckey's Bridge was one of the featured haunted locations on the paranormal TV series, '' Most Terrifying Places in America'' which aired on the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United ...

in 2018 in a special episode titled "Haunted Road Trips". On the segment, the bridge was referred to as 'Old Man Stuckey's Bridge'.Haunted Road Trips , Most Terrifying Places in America , Travel Channel
/ref>

References

External links

Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Reportedly haunted locations in Mississippi Mississippi Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Lauderdale County, Mississippi Truss bridges in the United States Metal bridges in the United States {{Mississippi-bridge-struct-stub