Ghost of Bellamy Bridge: Storytelling at Landmark Park

Sit back and enjoy an old-fashioned storytelling event at Landmark Park in Dothan, Alabama! The focus of this story is Marianna, Florida's notorious "ghost of Bellamy Bridge."

 

Obituary of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge

The death of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy.

by Dale Cox

Bellamy Bridge spans the Chipola River several miles north
of Marianna, Florida. It can be reached by the Bellamy Bridge
Heritage Trail, which leaves a parking area on CR 162 just
west of the river.

The legend of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge is one of Florida's best-known tales of the supernatural. 

For more than 120 years, the people of Jackson County have told the story of Bellamy Bridge and its haunting by the restless ghost of a young woman named Elizabeth Jane Bellamy. The story is colorful, sad, and chilling. 

There are, of course, multiple versions of the legend. The most popular is that Elizabeth died in a tragic wedding night accident after her extravagant gown somehow touched an open flame. Some say that she danced too close to a fireplace while celebrating her marriage to Dr. Samuel C. Bellamy. Others claim that the young woman accidentally toppled a candle onto her gown while resting in an upstairs room at the couple's beautiful Marianna mansion.

Caroline Lee Hentz (1800-1856) is buried at
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Marianna.

The legend is beautiful but bears little resemblance to the truth. It actually originated from a famous 19th-century novel, Marcus Warland or the Long Moss Spring, by author Caroline Lee Hentz. This is the same book that some historians have incorrectly used to assert that Jackson Blue Spring was the model for the romantic "long moss spring." Hentz noted in the introductory material that the book is based on real events, and it is true that she spent the last years of her life in Marianna and at St. Andrew Bay. 

Unfortunately for both legends, she wrote the book while living in Columbus, Georgia, before taking up residence in Marianna. The author notes as much in the book itself. The terrible incident of the "burning bride" took place near Columbus, and the real "long moss spring" is in that vicinity as well.

This, of course, neither proves nor disproves that there is a ghost at Bellamy Bridge. The legend is older than the first claims that Elizabeth Bellamy died in a tragic fire. The earliest incarnations of the story hold simply that the area around Bellamy Bridge is haunted by the restless spirit of Elizabeth as she searches for her long-lost husband.

Family papers prove that Elizabeth actually died of fever at Rock Cave Plantation several miles northwest of Marianna. She was buried in the little family cemetery at her sister's home on Terre Bonne Plantation, near which Bellamy Bridge stands today. She had married Dr. Bellamy several years before and even had a young son, Alexander, by the time of her death.

Notices of her death appeared in numerous newspapers of the time, but the most touching was printed by the New Bern Spectator in her home state of North Carolina:

Learn more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge and hear the haunting song written about her in this mini-documentary from Two Egg TV:

Editor's Note: Learn the real stories behind ten great Jackson County ghost and monster legends in Dale Cox's book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. It is available at Bespoken Gifts and Antiques, 4430 Lafayette Street, Marianna, Florida, and on Amazon.com.

Bellamy Bridge named to National Register of Historic Places

Florida's Most Haunted Bridge Receives National Recognition!

by Rachael Conrad

Historical and haunted Bellamy Bridge is now on
the National Register of Historic Places.

Bellamy Bridge, which some say is one of Florida's most haunted sites, is now a site of national distinction.

The National Park Service has listed the historic steel-frame structure on the National Register of Historic Places. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is the park service's initiative to "coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archaeological resources."

The bridge was built in 1914 using funds provided by the Jackson County Board of County Commissioners. It was prefabricated by the Converse Steel and Bridge Company and brought to the construction site on the Chipola River north of Marianna using ox carts. Crews assembled the pieces and completed the span in just over six weeks!

The bridge takes its name from earlier wooden bridges that crossed the Chipola River at the same site. These bridges have all been said to be haunted by the restless spirit of a young woman named Elizabeth Jane Croom Bellamy. Please click here to read more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge.

A closer look at the surviving steel-frame structure.

The recognition results in large part from the work of Andrew J. Waber of the Florida Division of Historical Resources. He has been engaged in an ambitious project to identify significant historical resources in rural counties of Northwest Florida. His work also led to the Sneads Log Cabin and Longwood House in Greenwood being added to the National Register in recent years.

Historian and author Dale Cox, who assisted by providing documentation and other information, said he was thrilled by today's announcement. "This has been a goal for a very, very long time," he said. "A group of us first started working to preserve Bellamy Bridge all the way back in the 1980s. There have been ups and downs, but this is a definite up!"

Bellamy Bridge is located off County Road 162 (Jacob Road) just west of the Chipola River. A trail leads from a gravel parking area there down to the bridge. Hurricane Michael did extensive damage to the trail. Cleanup efforts have been underway, and the path is once again open to the public, although more work remains to be done.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail as it appears today. Hurricane
Michael did extensive damage to the nature trail, but hard
work has it once again open to the public. More work is ahead.

Cox was a key figure in the effort to build the trail across Northwest Florida Water Management District lands and reopen the bridge to the public but gave higher credit to former Jackson County Parks director and current Florida State Parks assistant director Chuck Hatcher and former Jackson County Tourism director Pam Fuqua.

He also credited many others for their work in preserving Bellamy Bridge, among them current Jackson County Public Works director Rett Daniels, the Board of County Commissioners, the Northwest Florida Water Management District, the volunteers of the Friends of Bellamy Bridge, former tourism employee Whitney Clark, Brig. Gen. James W. Hart (ret.), Tracy and Susan Todd, Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts, David Melvin Engineering, and current county tourism director Christy Andreasen.

Enjoy this free mini-documentary from Two Egg TV to learn more about the Bellamy Bridge ghost story and hear a great song about the haunting:

Chuck Hatcher named to key State Parks post

Chuck Hatcher
New Assistant Director of Florida State Parks
Photo courtesy of Patte Hatcher

Jackson County's Director of Parks & Recycling has been named Assistant Director of Florida State Parks.

Chuck Hatcher, a Dellwood resident, will be leaving for his new position on March 7th after a remarkable 10 years of service to the people and visitors of Jackson County. He began his work with the county on September 26, 2006.

Hatcher will be supervising day to day operations for all 174 of Florida's state parks. Stretching from the Keys to the Perdido, the system's lands include hundreds of thousands of acres of some of the most pristine, historic and ecologically significant places in the state.

In a phone conversation this morning, he told me that he will miss his role in Jackson County. "I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in Jackson County," he said. "We are a rural county but we have done some major development in the areas of parks and recreation."

It was a modest understatement. During his tenure at the head of Jackson County's park system, Hatcher has supervised dramatic improvements in facilities and park operations. Visitation to Blue Springs alone has skyrocketed and now pays for the county's entire parks effort. In addition to noted and visible improvements at Blue Springs, he has also supervised an upswing in cleanliness and use of parks and recreation sites from one side of the county to the other.

Chuck Hatcher at Bellamy Bridge

I had the opportunity to work closely with Chuck in the realization of our dream to see Bellamy Bridge once again open to the public. Without spending a single dime of property tax money, we designed, funded and developed the new Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail on Highway 162. The one-half mile nature trail leads to the historic bridge and has been visited by thousands of people in just a few short years.

Chuck has also been instrumental in securing funding for boat ramps, boardwalks, the new Jackson County Greenway on the Chipola River and improving the quality of the county-maintained parks along Lake Seminole. His key accomplishments are bringing tourists to our area in growing numbers while also benefiting the citizens of Jackson County on a daily basis.

Chuck and his wife of many years Patte reside in downtown Dellwood. They have two highly accomplished daughters. The entire family has been visible and active in Jackson County for many years and will remain so after he transitions to his new position.

Congratulations to a long-time friend!

Ghost of Bellamy Bridge mini-documentary (Marianna, FL)

The legend of Bellamy bridge is one of Florida's best known ghost stories!

Electric mist at haunted Bellamy Bridge near Marianna, FL

Photographs from www.twoegg.tv showing strange electrical interference at historic and haunted Bellamy Bridge near Marianna, Florida.

#65 The forgotten Penn-Jarratt Railroad (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

A Baldwin 4-4-0 locomotive
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

A long-forgotten railroad that ran up the west side of the Chipola River from Marianna to the Alabama state line is #65 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Please click here to see the complete list as it is unveiled.

Near the western border of Florida Caverns State Park and within sight of Blue Hole Spring, the bed of an abandoned railroad cuts through a limestone outcrop before continuing north out of the park. The story of this railroad was almost completely forgotten, but with help from Sue Tindel and Robert Earl Standland of the office of Jackson County Clerk of Courts Dale Guthrie, Pat Crisp of the Chipola Historical Trust and Billy Bailey of Florida Caverns State Park, the facts can now be brought to light.

Billy Bailey of Florida Caverns State Park points out
old cross-ties in the bed of the Penn-Jarratt Railroad

Lumber was a hot commodity in the United States during the first years of the 20th century. The red cypress and other hardwood trees growing along the upper Chipola River were of enormous value and great profits stood to be made by the company that could fell them and bring them out of the swamps.

A 640 acre tract in Marianna was home to multiple sawmills and lumber operations, among them the Jarratt Lumber Corporation. This firm had come into existence in 1910 when it purchased the assets of clearly related Jarratt Brothers Lumber Company. By 1920 it had merged with another timber interest to become Penn-Jarratt Lumber.

The bed of the railroad cuts through limestone at
Florida Caverns State Park.

The firm leased timber rights to thousands of acres along the Chipola River and employed then revolutionary technologies in its harvesting and milling techniques. Steam-powered skidders were used to drag massive logs of cypress, gum, oak and other hardwoods from the floodplain swamps. These machines replaced the ox carts and manual labor of previous times.

To move the logs to its mills at Marianna, the firm operated a 20-mile long railroad that extended from the L&N (today's CSX) all the way up to the Alabama state line.

Logging railroads were not uncommon in Northwest Florida, but the Jarratt line was unique in that it employed the use of full-size trains instead of the smaller locomotives often used on such lines.

Baldwin 4-4-0 locomotive
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

One of its locomotives, for example, was a massive steam-powered Baldwin 4-4-0 purchased from the Alabama, Florida & Gulf  (AF&G) railroad in 1917. That line operated passenger and freight trains that ran from the Dothan vicinity south to Malone and eventually Greenwood.

Jarratt found itself in considerable legal difficulty when the company decided to run its tracks along the rights-of-way of public roads in places.  A court case decided in 1917 that railroads could be held liable for using public roadways and for damage to adjacent properties.

The trains ran on the Jarratt line until around 1932 when the last of the old growth timber had been cleared from the upper Chipola River. The mills closed and the company's property holdings were sold for taxes, a common practice employed by lumber companies in those days to dispose of land once they no longer had use for it.

Section of the railroad bed.

Sections of the old railroad bed are still visible at Florida Caverns State Park and on the adjacent lands of the Northwest Florida Water Management District.

The tracks connected with the L&N where Orange Avenue crosses the CSX tracks in Marianna today. From there they ran to the west of the old Marianna High School Campus and followed Carters Mill Road and Fish Hatchery Road into Florida Caverns State Park. A deep section of railroad bed can be seen near Blue Hole Spring adjacent to the equestrian trails in the park.

The tracks crossed through the parking area for the
Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail on Highway 162.

From Florida Caverns, the railroad continued up the west side of the Chipola, crossing Waddell's Mill Creek on a trestle and passing through what is now the parking area for the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail at Highway 162.

The tracks ran from there up the west side of the river and Forks of the Creek all the way to Alabama. Although the rails were removed after the railroad ceased operation, some of the cross-ties can still be seen.

The long forgotten railroad of the Penn-Jarratt Lumber Company is #65 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Fundraising for Bellamy Bridge footbridges reaches goal!

Bellamy Bridge near Marianna, Florida

The Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is about to take a major step forward!

Located at 4057 Highway 162, Marianna, Florida (between Greenwood and US 231), the one-half mile walking trail provides access to Jackson County's historic Bellamy Bridge. The old steel-frame span across the Chipola River turns 100 years old this year and is the focal point for one of Florida's best known ghost stories.

As of yesterday, the effort to raise $7,500 to fund new footbridges along the trail has reached its goal.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

The Jackson County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the expenditure of $5,000 by the county's Tourist Development Council to support the project.  The money for the capital/interpretive project comes from the county's hotel or "bed tax," which is paid by visitors who enjoy stays at hotels in Jackson County. NO property tax money is being spent on the project.

The use of "bed tax" funding on the boardwalks also received unanimous approval from the Jackson County Tourist Development Council and matches $2,500 raised locally through donations from citizens and businesses. Most of these donations were small and reflect the wide interest the community has taken in the project.

Flooding in 2013

The construction of the boardwalks, which will cross the sites of two historic wooden bridges that once served as approach structures for the main bridge, will open Bellamy Bridge even during most times of high water. Much of the trail follows an elevated causeway built in the 1870s, but gaps where the two wooden bridges once stood have allowed river flooding to block the trail for months at the time.

All of that will soon change. The construction of the footbridges will allow visitors a high and dry way of reaching Bellamy Bridge except during the highest of floods.

In addition, the new footbridges along with leveling work along the trail will open it for persons of all abilities by making it passable for wheelchairs, powerchairs, etc.

"Orb" at Bellamy Bridge
Notice how it illuminates the ground!

A beloved landmark for generations, Bellamy Bridge may be the "most haunted" bridge in Florida. It is also the oldest. Tragic stories dating back more than 100 years have led to the growth of four different ghost stories in the bridge area, the most famous being the tale of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy. The young woman came from an elite antebellum family. She died in 1837 and alleged sightings of her ghost in the Bellamy Bridge were first reported more than 120 years ago.

The Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail was opened in 2012 as a new and free way for the public to reach the historic bridge. The former access route, via Bellamy Bridge Road, was closed by private landowners. The trail, however, approaches the bridge from the opposite side of the river, is well-marked and features a rock parking area, interpretive panels and benches for resting at key intervals.

The path also passes through one of the most beautiful natural settings in all of Florida.

To learn more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

To learn more about the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, please visit www.bellamybridge.org.

New photo of Ghost of Bellamy Bridge?!

Does a photo taken last week on the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail near Marianna show the legendary Ghost of Bellamy Bridge?

Shortly after taking the cell phone photo, the photographer - who has asked to remain anonymous - noticed a strange anomaly in one part of the image. An enlargement of that section of the photograph shows what appears to be the face of a young woman surrounded by what could be described as a veil or shroud.

The mysterious "face" that appears in the anomaly is complete down to its eyes, ears, mouth, nose and even eyebrows.

The photograph was taken at the overlook where the heritage trail reaches Bellamy Bridge. You can examine the image yourself below. Please share your thoughts!

To learn more about the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, please visit www.bellamybridge.org.

#76 Chuck Hatcher (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Chuck Hatcher
Photo courtesy of Patte Nettles Hatcher

This list consists primarily of places and stories, but the work Chuck Hatcher has done for our county is deserving of recognition. He is #76 on my list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Click here to see the complete list as it is unveiled.

As Director of the Jackson County Parks & Recycling Department, Chuck Hatcher has supervised the most dramatic program of improvement of a local park system that I have ever seen. My career took me all around the country and I've seen great local parks and some that were not so great. Jackson County has always been blessed with beautiful scenery, but our park system has often fallen short of its potential. That has changed under Chuck's leadership and in a remarkable way.

Blue Springs

Blue Springs is the crown jewel of Jackson County's park system and under Chuck's leadership it has become a focal point for visitors from around the world. The agreement between the county and Cave Adventurers has turned Blue Springs into a major destination for divers and with his ability to write successful grant applications, Chuck has obtained the thousands of dollars in grant money needed to make Blue Springs a first class facility. Diving has become a major part of Jackson County's tourism effort and the visitors who come to take part are adding millions of dollars to the local economy each year.

If you haven't been lately, drop by after they reopen on Memorial Day weekend. The park is clean, nicely landscaped, the facilities have been dramatically improved, the summer employees are bright and energetic. You will find that under Hatcher's leadership, Blue Springs has become a world class park and attraction.

Chuck Hatcher at Bellamy Bridge

Chuck Hatcher has also been a leader in the effort to reopen historic Bellamy Bridge to the public. Through his own labors, those of his associates, inmates from the Jackson County Correctional Facility and volunteers, he supervised the building of the new Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, parking lot, fencing, informational kiosks and soon the much-needed footbridges. All of this was done without using a dime of property tax money.

Spring Creek Park, another facility that draws thousands of visitors from all over the region, features beautiful boardwalks, stunning views and a great launch facility for those who come to enjoy tubing, canoeing and kayaking on the cold clear waters of Spring Creek and the Chipola River.

Chuck Hatcher leading at lantern light tour at Bellamy Bridge

Other projects he has spearheaded include improving public access to Compass Lake, the dramatic improvement in maintenance for the parks along Lake Seminole, the development of Citizens Park into a major recreational and meeting facility for the people of Jackson County and more. Projects on the drawing board are equally exciting and will continue the progress that Jackson County has made in making clean, beautiful and safe recreation areas available for our citizens and visitors.

Sometimes our best citizens and public employees "fly below the radar" and do not receive the recognition they deserve. Chuck Hatcher and his employees have done more to improve life in Jackson County than anyone I know. In recognizing him I recognize them all as #76 on my list of the 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Bellamy Bridge Ornament goes on sale Monday

2013 Ornament

A special Christmas ornament commemorating historic Bellamy Bridge will go on sale Monday in Marianna.

Sponsored by Century 21 Sunny South Properties and benefiting Easter Seals in its effort to help children and adults with disabilities, the ornament costs $12.50 and will be available at the Century 21 offices on Highway 90 east and at the historic Russ House.

The ornament features an engraving of the beautiful old structure as it appeared in the early 1960s and includes an insert that tells the history of the historic bridge, which is now the centerpiece of the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail (4057 Hwy 162, Marianna, FL).

To learn more about the bridge and trail, visit www.bellamybridge.org or www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

To purchase your ornament, stop in at either the Russ House or Century 21 starting Monday!  Only 1,000 ornaments were made and they will go quickly, so please help Easter Seals and pick one up soon!

Century 21 Sunny South Properties is located at 4630 Highway 90, Marianna (just east of the Chipola River Bridge).

The historic Russ House is located at 4318 Lafayette Street, Marianna.

Both locations are open during normal business hours.

Bellamy Bridge Ghost Walks set for this weekend!

Photo of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge
Taken during last year's Ghost Walks.

The annual Bellamy Bridge Ghost Walks will take place this weekend on the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail!

The tours begin on Thursday night and continue through Saturday night.  Shuttles for this year's tours will leave from Citizens Lodge on Caverns Road in Marianna.  The cost to ride the shuttle is $2, but the tour itself is free!  (Donations are welcome!).

The tours take participants down the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail for after dark history lessons and ghost stories!  On Saturday night, participants will also be able to join in with the Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts team as they search for scientific evidence of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge!

To reserve your spot on the tours, please call the Jackson County Tourism Office at (850) 482-8061 or email them at info@visitjacksoncountyfla.com.

You can learn more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

Flooding forces temporary closure of Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail (July 5, 2013)

Flood waters cover the trail

Rising flood waters from the Chipola River have forced a temporary closure of Jackson County's popular Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail.

The unique trail provides public access to historic and purportedly haunted Bellamy Bridge, long a cultural landmark of the county.

As of this noon today (July 5, 2013), water was at least three feet deep across portions of the trail and was rising rapidly. Heavy rain from a tropical depression has brought the Chipola River out of its banks in northern Jackson County.  More rain is in the forecast for the weekend and the river rise may not crest until early next week.

Until that time, Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is closed for access to the bridge. I will keep you updated on flood conditions affecting this and other recreation areas in the county, so watch for updates over coming days.

Here are some photos of the flooding at Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail. These were taken today:

Flood waters run through the swamp along the sides of the elevated trail.

Water flowing through the first trail gap.

Water flows over the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

Ghost hunters make "electric" discovery at Bellamy Bridge!

Bellamy Bridge

A team of paranormal investigators has uncovered evidence of unexplained electric "pulses" at Jackson County's famously haunted Bellamy Bridge!

The investigators from Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts, who conducted previous research at the historic Russ House in Marianna, are conducting research at Bellamy Bridge in cooperation with the Friends of Bellamy Bridge. The project is producing results and video that will be used in a documentary being prepared about Bellamy Bridge.

Bellamy Bridge is Florida's oldest bridge of its type and is accessed by the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail at 4057 Jacob Road (Hwy 162) north of Marianna (Note: The old access by way of Bellamy Bridge Road is no longer open to the public). 

Team from Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts

Local legend holds that the area around the bridge is haunted by the ghost of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy, a young woman who died on May 11, 1837. The presence of her apparition has been reported at the bridge and the wooden bridges that stood at the site before it since the 1800s. A Marianna newspaper reported in the 1890s, for example, that the "lady of Bellamy Bridge has been seen of late."

According to Susan Todd of Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts, the electric pulses are baffling her team because there is no source of electricity close enough to the bridge to be causing them.  That includes power lines, lights, underground lines, underwater lines, generators, radio towers or cellphone towers.

Read more and see video of the team's equipment detecting some of the pulses at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamyghost.

To stay up to date on events and planned tours at Bellamy Bridge, be sure to "Like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bellamybridge.

Interpretive Kiosk erected at Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail!

New Interpretive Kiosk at Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

The first of a number of planned interpretive panels have gone up at the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail in Jackson County.

Located at 4057 Jacob Road (Highway 162) north of Marianna, the trail provides a beautiful one-half mile walk to historic and reportedly haunted Bellamy Bridge. Please note  that the entrance to Bellamy Bridge is no longer on Bellamy Bridge Road. Visitors must now enter from the new parking lot on Highway 162 (Jacob Road). It is on the left 1/10 of one mile west of the modern bridge over the Chipola River.

New Kiosk and the entrance to the Trail

The new interpretive kiosk is the first of eleven planned interpretive stations that are being placed as part of the marking of the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, a driving tour of places in Jackson County with a connection to Florida's Spanish history. It features two panels, the first of which tells the story of the Bellamy Bridge area in Spanish Colonial times.

It was somewhere near Bellamy Bridge that Spanish explorer Marcos Delgado crossed the Chipola River in September 1686. Instructed to march northwest from Mission San Luis (present-day Tallahassee) to investigate reports of French intrusion in Spanish territory along the Mississippi River, Delgado crossed the Apalachicola River into Jackson County following a pathway that should be considered the real Old Spanish Trail.

Closer View of the new Kiosk, trail entrance in the background.

His journal mentions passing Mission San Carlos, which will also be a stop on the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, before passing on to Blue Springs , another stop on the new driving tour, and then turning north and west to the Chipola River in what is now the Bellamy Bridge vicinity. Delgado and his followers crossed the river before passing out of Jackson County near what is now Campbellton. He described seeing buffalo grazing not long after he crossed the river.

The Interpretive Panels in the new Kiosk

The kiosk also tells the story of the Battle of the Upper Chipola, an important battle of the First Seminole War. The fight took place in March 1818 between the U.S. allied Creek Brigade of Brig. Gen. William McIntosh and the Red Stick warriors of the chief Econchattimico ("Red Ground King). Econchattimico and his men were defeated and 20 of his men were killed while more than 150 other men, women and children were captured. According to Gen. McIntosh's report, the battle took place on the west side of the Chipola River about two miles below the forks of the creek where the river is formed. That would place its location as being somewhere in the vicinity of the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, although the exact site of the battlefield has never been found.

Finally, of course, the new interpretive kiosk tells the story of the famed Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. It is said by many that the restless ghost of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy, a young woman who died during antebellum times, haunts Bellamy Bridge and its vicinity. Her story is deeply embedded in the culture and folklore of Florida and is a special part of Jackson County's history.

A special "ghost walk" to commemorate "The Night Elizabeth Died" will begin at the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail parking area at 7:30 p.m. (Central) on Saturday night, May 11th.  The public is invited and the guided tour and ghost story telling is absolutely free!  Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring a flashlight and mosquito repellent if you come!

The new kiosk was funded by the Jackson County Tourist Development Council using money generated by a tax on hotel accommodations. No property tax dollars have been expended on the kiosk or the trail.

To learn more about the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail and to obtain directions, please visit www.bellamybridge.org. You can read more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

Flood Waters flow at Bellamy Bridge - 2/26/2013

The Chipola River is nearly one-mile wide in the Bellamy Bridge area of Jackson County thanks to nearly 1-foot of rain that fell in the area over the last few days.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, the one-half mile walk that leads to the historic bridge, is completely flooded and water today was flowing through the parking lot like a running stream.

The video above and photos below were taken today (2/26/2013).

Entrance to Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

Water flows in a stream across the parking lot.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is completely flooded.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail completely submerged.

Entrance to Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail.

Chipola River from Hwy 162 Bridge.

Update: Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail remains closed (2/20/2013)

February 20, 2013 - Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail remains closed due to flooding. About 5 feet of water continued to flow across two parts of the trail today, blocking access from the parking area on Highway 162 to historic Bellamy Bridge itself.

Sections of the trail, which was 100% flooded last week, have started to dry out and damage appears to have been minimal. 

Opened to the public on November 1, 2012, the one-half mile long trail provides public access (when it is dry!) to historic Bellamy Bridge, the oldest bridge of its type in the state of Florida.  It is the focal point of one of Florida's best known ghost stories and the land crossed by the trail is rich in historical significance.

You can read more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

The photos below were taken today and show the slowly drying sections of the trail as well as one of the places where flood water continues to flow across it.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail begins to dry out.

Trail entrance is now dry.

Mud and some water remains along first section of trail.

The flood washed thousands of acorns onto the trail.

A bench is now high and dry. It was underwater last week.

Flood debris in the swamp along the trial.

Water flows across a section of the trail.

Water continues to flow through the swamp.

Palmetto plants stand in the floodwater.

Damage to the parking area has been repaired.

Water flowed through the fence like a river last week.