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:

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.

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.

#86 The Graceville "Spook Lights" (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

The Graceville Spook Lights

The mysterious Graceville Spook Lights are #86 on my list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

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

On the west side of Graceville, there is a spot where you can look up the old railroad bed and see two strange lights that appear at unpredictable intervals almost every night. Legend says the lights are the unhappy ghosts of a man and woman who were hanged from the railroad trestle over 100 years ago.

Graceville Spook Lights

To see them, head west on State Highway 2 across Holmes Creek into Holmes County and turn left onto St. Johns Road. Pull off the side of the road and walk back east on Highway 2 a short distance to the old rail bed. From that point, if you look up the old railroad into Graceville and have a little luck, you will see the lights. You have to look for them from the Holmes County side of the line, but the lights themselves are in Jackson county.

(One note, please respect private property rights and don't walk up the old railroad bed to try to see them better. Not only is it disrespectful, illegal and dangerous, the lights will just vanish. They can only be seen from the spot by Highway 2. Also, please do not stand in the roadway!  You might become a ghost yourself.)

Now on with the story...

Spook lights or ghost lights are popular parts of Southern culture and folklore. North Carolina has its Maco Light. Georgia has the Surrency Spooklight. Arkansas is known for the Gurdon and Dover Lights and Missouri is famed for the Seneca Light. Like the Graceville Spook Lights, such phenomena appear almost nightly under the right conditions.

The ghost story behind the Graceville lights revolves around the all but forgotten 1910 hangings of Hattie Bowman and Edward Christian. The two had been arrested on charges related to the murder of Deputy Sheriff Allen Burns, who had gone to Bowman's home while investigating the theft of a gold watch from a Graceville merchant.

Residents of northwestern Jackson County were infuriated by the murder of Deputy Burns. A large group of people forced their way into the jail on the night of September 2, 1910, and dragged away the prisoners:

Graceville, Fla., Sept. 3 - Dangling from a trestle just outside the town, this morning, were found the bodies of Ed. Christian...charged with shooting Deputy Sheriff Allen Burns, and Hattie Bowman...who had been arrested on the charge of being implicated in the crime. (Toledo Blade, September 8, 1910)

The mob had taken Christian and Bowman to the trestle over Holmes Creek, tied nooses around their necks, tied the other ends of the ropes to the trestle ties, and kicked the two off the bridge. No one was ever arrested for their murders.

Graceville Spook Lights

Two strange flickering lights have been seen ever since from the point where the railroad crosses the road just west of Graceville. The lights are best seen in the winter, when the leaves have fallen from the trees, and first appear as a bare flicker, then grow in brightness briefly before fading away. Legend holds they are the ghosts of Hattie Bowman and Edward Christian, still seeking justice 104 years after they died.

While the story itself is tragic, the mysterious lights are on the list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

The story is included in my book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge: Ten Stories of Ghosts & Monsters from Jackson County, Florida. It is available at Chipola River Book & Tea in downtown Marianna or online from Amazon.com in both print and Kindle editions:

The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge [Paperback]

The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge [Kindle]

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.

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.

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.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is 100% Flooded

Jackson County's popular Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is flooded for its entire one-half mile length as of today (February 13, 2013).

The Chipola River has been making a dramatic rise due to heavy rains that have fallen over recent days in Southeast Alabama. The river rises from creeks that form there. The trail could be walked all the way to Bellamy Bridge as recently as Monday, but by noon today was completely flooded and water was pouring across the new parking area on Highway 162 between Greenwood and US 231.

The trail follows the route of the historic old road that led to Bellamy Bridge from the 1600s until it was closed to the public in 1963 when the new Highway 162 bridge was completed nearby. Completed and opened to the public on November 1, 2012, the trail has become a popular recreation spot and has seen heavy traffic from county residents and visitors alike.

Bellamy Bridge is believed by some to be Florida's "Most Haunted Bridge." The historic steel-frame structure is said to be haunted by the ghost of Elizabeth Jane Croom Bellamy, a young woman who died in Jackson County on May 11, 1837. Her wispy ghost has been seen in the vicinity of the bridge and its wooden predecessors since at least the 1890s.

To learn more about the history of Bellamy Bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge or consider my new book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, which can be purchased on the upper right of this page.

The photos below were taken today (2/13/2013).

Historic Preservation Projects mark the season in Jackson County

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

As you know, I love the history and culture of this beautiful place we call home. And this year I'm really pleased to see the way several historic preservation efforts are coming together to save and interpret some really significant parts of Jackson County's past.

The first is the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail. Now open to the public during daylight hours, the trail leaves from a brand new parking area on Highway 162 only 200 yards west of the Chipola River bridge between Greenwood and U.S. 231.

The trail is a 1/2 mile nature walk that takes visitors to historic Bellamy Bridge, one of Florida's 10 oldest bridges and, of course, the site of one of our county's favorite ghost stories. The trail has been developed without spending a single extra dime of taxpayer money and is being maintained by volunteers. It provides public access to Bellamy Bridge again for the first time in 30 years.

You can learn more about the history of Bellamy Bridge here: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge

I hope you will stop by and check out the trail. It really is a beautiful walk. We will be adding interpretive signs soon, but it is open to the public and is well-maintained. Remember, the access is on Highway 162, NOT Bellamy Bridge Road. You can no longer reach the bridge the old way that most people remember.

Remember also that the full purchase price of my new book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, goes to benefit the heritage trail project. You can purchase it here: The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge: 10 Ghosts & Monsters from Jackson County, Florida  It is also available for Amazon Kindle.

The other project underway right now is the Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, a driving tour that connects a number of historic sites in the county that date from Spanish colonial times. Most residents don't even know that these places exist, but we are hoping to make them part of a wider effort to draw visitors to Jackson County to learn more about our history, culture and scenery.

The Jackson County Floridan ran a nice article on the Spanish Heritage Trail today:
http://www.jcfloridan.com/news/article_00077cae-4676-11e2-adef-001a4bcf6878.html

If you have some time to donate, even just an hour or two a week, let me know!  We would love to have your help.

"The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge" is now in Print!

My latest book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, hit the printing press today! This book features an in depth historical look at Florida's most famous ghost story.

Popular local legend holds that Bellamy Bridge, a steel-frame structure that spans the Chipola River north of Marianna, is haunted by the restless ghost of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy. She died when she was still a young woman and is buried near the bridge, but her name and memory live on in the vivid story of the "Burning Bride" of Bellamy Bridge.

The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge recounts the legend and then delves into the true history of Elizabeth Bellamy and Bellamy Bridge while also investigating claims of ghost sitings at the bridge. Included are numerous photos that many believe show the ghost of Bellamy Bridge!

In addition, a second section of the book features a variety of other ghost and monster stories from Jackson County, including tales from Marianna, Sneads, Two Egg, Parramore, Graceville, Cottondale, Greenwood and more!

100% of the sales price of this book benefits the new Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail on Highway 162 between Greenwood and US 231. This new public historic site is being developed without the use of a single tax dollar and the book has been donated to raise money for the trail.

You can order now to receive yours in time for Christmas: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybook.

A limited number of copies will be available next week at Chipola River Book & Tea in Downtown Marianna. The book will also be available at the Jackson County Tourism Office at the historic Russ House in coming weeks.

The Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail: A Proposed Multi-Use Trail in Jackson County, Florida

Bellamy Bridge in Jackson County, FL

You may have caught some of the news coverage last week about the planned new Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail here in Jackson County.

I've had many questions since the story broke and thought I would try to answer some of them here by providing you with basic information on the project. Be sure to visit my primary Bellamy Bridge page at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge for more information after reading this article!

Here are the basics...

Route of Planned Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

The Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail will be a short (less than 1/2 mile) multi-use trail that will connect County Road 162 with historic Bellamy Bridge.

The steel-frame bridge was built in 1914 and is the second oldest bridge of its type in Florida and one of the ten oldest bridges in the state. It was originally built by and is still owned by Jackson County, but public access to it has been closed for nearly two decades.

While the old bridge itself will mark the 100th anniversary of its construction in 2014 and is a significant historic landmark in its own right, it is perhaps best known as the centerpiece of one of Florida's best known ghost stories: The Legend of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge.

West End of Bellamy Bridge
Where the Planned Trail will End

While many people have heard of the ghost story, most do not realize that the historical significance of the Bellamy Bridge site goes far beyond the much loved folk tale. In fact, the crossing site where the bridge stands today has been in use for more than 300 years.

The first recorded use of the crossing took place in September 1686, when the Spanish expedition of Marcos Delgado crossed the Chipola River at the Bellamy site. He had been ordered to investigate reports of French intrusion on Spanish lands and marched west from Mission San Luis (present-day Tallahassee) at the head of a column of Spanish soldiers and Native American allies.

Upper Chipola River

The tale, which differs quite a bit from the true facts, revolves around the untimely death of a young woman named Elizabeth Jane Bellamy. She is buried in an overgrown plot near the bridge and for more than 100 years people have claimed to see her ghost in its vicinity. You can learn more about the legend and the real facts behind it by following this link.

Guided by Chacato Indians who had once lived in what is now Jackson County, Delgado crossed the Apalachicola River and marched west to Blue Springs where he and his men halted briefly to rest. Then he turned to the northwest and cut across a trackless wilderness to the present site of Bellamy Bridge. In his journal and letters he noted that the cane then growing along the river was enormous, with its stalks measuring up to 6 inches in thickness:

Continuing to the Northwest...there is a clayey swamp and in its center a stream which has 36 feet of width and a depth of 6 feet and the swamp itself has half a league of breadth. It is thick and it was necessary to cut the path. - Marcos Delgado (January 5, 1687)

Steel Framework of Bellamy Bridge

The trail cut by Delgado was used by Native American hunters in the years that followed and in 1819 was incorporated into an early road opened by American settlers who drifted down into Spanish Florida after the First Seminole War and built homes along Spring Creek near Campbellton. The road connected their settlement with Fort Scott in what is now Decatur County, Georgia.

At about the same time members of the Fort family settled on the east side of the Chipola where Bellamy Bridge now stands. The settlers called their path the "Fort Road," but whether it was so named because it ran to Fort Scott or because it passed by the home of Isaac Fort is not clear.

Bellamy Bridge and the Chipola River

The Fort plantation passed into the hands of Dr. Edward C. Bellamy in the 1830s and he operated a large plantation there until he left Jackson County on the eve of the War Between the States. His large home stood just south of the historic bridge, but was destroyed in an accidental fire many years ago. Only a cistern remains today.

Bellamy was the brother of Dr. Samuel C. Bellamy, who was the husband of Elizabeth Bellamy, the woman around whom the ghost story revolves. Samuel Bellamy built the first bridge at the site in 1844 to connect his plantation near Baker Creek northwest of Marianna with Edward's plantation at Bellamy Bridge.

The original wooden structure built by Dr. Bellamy was replaced several times over the years, but the Bellamy Bridge name stuck. In 1914, the Jackson County Commission authorized the construction of the historic steel-frame bridge and it was completed in December of that year. It served traffic until the early 1960's when it was replaced by the concrete bridge still in use today. The modern bridge is upstream from the historic steel bridge.

Map of Planned Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail
Click to Enlarge

Over the years, public access to the historic site was lost, but the new Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail project will change that.

The trail will be open for both walkers and bike riders and will run from a parking area on CR 162 just west of the modern concrete bridge down the old roadway to Bellamy Bridge. It is a joint project of the Friends of Bellamy Bridge organization, Jackson County Parks & Recycling and Northwest Florida Water Management District.

The trail will be free to use, is being funded entirely by private donations and will not interfere with hunting or other activities in the Upper Chipola WMA. Eventual plans include the placement of interpretive signs that will tell not only about the ghost story, but about the history of the bridge and crossing, the significance of the Upper Chipola River and the natural environment of the flood plain.

The project will be built in three phases, as donations make work possible. The first phase will consist of the opening of a simple trail and free guided tours to the bridge. The second phase will include the addition of interpretive markers and the development of plans for free programs for area schools and groups. The third and final phase will include the placement of foot bridges at two spots along the old road causeway, the placement of benches at key spots along the trail, the construction of an observation platform at the west end of the bridge and the official opening of the trail.

It is hoped that the entire project can be completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the building of the bridge in 2014.

To learn more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, the history of the bridge and the proposed Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.