Zealandia Bridge, aka Helen’s Bridge, was built in 1909 as a carriageway for the Zealandia Estate. It was mentioned in a passage of Thomas Wolf’s “Look Homeward, Angel,” as the novelist used to frequently walk under the bridge. Its ghost, Helen, is believed to have been a woman who lived nearby with her daughter. When her daughter died in a fire, Helen hanged herself from the bridge.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- College St
Asheville, NC
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 35.59543219828985, -82.53810994327068
- County:
- Buncombe County, North Carolina
- Nearest Towns:
- Asheville, NC (1.0 mi.)
Woodfin, NC (3.6 mi.)
Biltmore Forest, NC (4.3 mi.)
Weaverville, NC (7.1 mi.)
Bent Creek, NC (7.1 mi.)
Swannanoa, NC (7.8 mi.)
Royal Pines, NC (8.4 mi.)
Avery Creek, NC (9.5 mi.)
Fairview, NC (9.8 mi.)
Hoopers Creek, NC (11.5 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
Went here and looked for it for hours..by the time I finally stumbled on it I was ready to give up…found it by complete accident..there is terrible vibes here..saw trees moving when there was no wind and there was a terrible chill in the air..there is something there besides helen
I went to college at Western Carolina in the late 90’s, this is where I learned about helens bridge. I didn’t believe it, until I went there. the first time I went, the driver cut the car off while under the bridge, he waited for about 15-20 seconds and tried to crank it back, but with no luck. I was in the backseat and turned around only to see a figure with long hair walking towards us, we got the car to crank and sped off. I went back a week later, my friend called out her name. There was no wind, no noise and after he called her name, the wind picked up, sticks began to break and that is when a woman walked out of the woods in all white. she just looked at us, didn’t say a word, she wasn’t scary looking, she just looked at us. I froze solid. I go back to helens bridge all the time, chasing that experience.
Went to Helen’s Bridge in the evening. Went slowly underneath the bridge my husband’s well lit cigar kept repeatedly going out. Very eerie feeling around whole area.
My husband and I visited this location in August 2011 on a Sunday about noon after a ghost tour the night before. We parked at the top of the hill parallel to the bridge. We shut the car off, put the keys on the dashboard and put the windows down. I called out Helen’s name 3 times as we were told to do. We did not hear or sense anything. But I got out of the car on the right front passenger side. Clear as day on the roof of my dark gray car was a skeletal handprint. My husband saw the print also but I washed it off and we left quickly a bit unnerved. We do want to visit it again though and take photos.
Yeah quite scary! I’m new to the Asheville area and I had to go up there. My fiancé asked me to park somewhere… so I did. We begin recording on our phones. Well we wasn’t up there too long until this car comes by, as I look at the people in the car I see what I thought were glowing red eyes.. the car leaves.. as we were still recording we both hear a scream, now wheather or not it was Helen.. I don’t know. It could easily have been a kid up at the mansion.. as soon as we heard the scream him and I see another pair of glowing eyes in front of us.
My boyfriend and his friend went up to the bridge one night and they were in the car on their phones. They both got a notification at the same time saying they had a missed call from an unknown number. One of his friends had a voicemail from the unknown number but they couldn’t make out anything that was said other than, “I’m sorry.” Later they went home and my boyfriend was woken up in the middle of the night and for some reason was compelled to go outside in the pitch black dark and sit on the front porch. He heard something making noise but it didn’t sound like an animal. Again, he was compelled to go towards the sound which led him to the back of the house where he said a black figure was standing by a bush. It wasn’t an animal but also didn’t look human. After a couple of seconds the thing walked off and then my boyfriend ran inside the house and locked the door. He got back to his room and said the window was open, it wasn’t when he woke up and left.
I’m here right now I live in Asheville. I go all over the United States hunting the paranormal. I wish Asheville had a base group.
I grew up on the east side and to us this was a place we often went after a football game in the dark. We always followed the winding road that went up behind the bus station and parked under the bridge. Back then we would gather at the old pizza place -Godfather’s and pile in cars for the ghostly experience. We were told to watch out for the old man the dwelt nearby in the stone rubble. Some said he was part wolf. We always would turn off the car and sit saying Helen three times.. You could not turn on a flashlight nor leave your headlights on nor talk to each other after saying her name.. It always had to be in the darkness…The cars parked under the bridge always died, the wind always picks up and crazy sounds whip all around the car like scratches or maybe branches of trees scraping only there were no branches around…Shadows will appear shifting in and out of the darkness. To sit under that dark bridge is something you will never forget! As always once the car starts up and you are safe down the mountain you can see her hand print or prints appear in the window of the car. I know every time her hand print remained as if she landed on the car palms outstretched over the window. I tried once to walk the bridge and almost fell so I do not recommend attempting that. I so far have never met anyone who dared her to sit under Helen’s bridge alone in the dark. The legend we were told was that she lost her baby and hung herself on that bridge with grief and is often spotted on that winding road in a long white gown asking if anyone has seen her child.
Funny. I grew up in Arden at the base of Mt. Royal. We have our own Helen myth too…it even involves saying her name three times. Honestly, the ONE time I did it, a tree fell in front of my car on the way down the hill…
Went once will never go back. I went with a group of friends in high school one night to just goof around. We were told to turn the car off under the bridge and say her name three times. WELL we didn’t turn the car off and my buddy in the front seat start yelling “HEY HELEN” over and over and “COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE” ..I shit you not the car just turns itself off and we start rolling down the hill. My friend managed to get the car back on after multiple failed attempts and finally got it switched back on before reaching the bottom of that hill. We bolted out of there. That was my first and last time there. I do not recommended it to anyone.
been back numerous times since my first comment. still feel negative vibes and caught a few shadow people in pictures.
I’m here at the bridge now. I live and work in Asheville. I travel all over the United States hunting the paranormal. I wish Asheville had a paranormal group.
just last night came back from Asheville. there on a weekend getaway with my SO. he does not believe in the paranormal and feels there is always a rational explanation. i have had 2 experiences with the paranormal in my life unprovoked, but never anything like this.
we went to the bridge last night after i saw various stories about it. with any lore, of course once it has been passed down so many generations, it can get cloudy, so i wasnt there with the idea that just helen would be present.
we took some pictures and joked around then went to the orange peel and walked around downtown for about 2 hours. on the way back to our airbnb in lake lure, i said lets go back and try and get some activity
he said ok but that he would stay in the car. he messed around with the lights on the car to tease me and i just started filming and calling out to helen and any other potential beings. rationalized every sound i heard like leaves rustling and a long tree “branch” swaying (shown in one of the photos) and i turned to leave and felt 3 scratches on my lower back and i took off running to the car shaking and nearly in tears.
note: i was standing in the middle of the road, nowhere near any branches
i did not know there was any visible evidence until this morning when my SO saw my back and said he now believes me but still thinks it can be explained…no one has ever taken me serious and now i have physical proof. a part of me wants to go back, but the other part is a bit too shook.
here is one of several pictures to show where i was standing
here is one other
it was called henrys bridge like 70 years ago. its not haunted at all and was just some story made up to scare out of towners and teens. my dad and his friends used to sleep on top of the bridge all the time back in like the 50s. it leads to a cool house that they had closed access to years ago at the way top of the hill. its a steep drive up and of course it looks spooky cause its old in has a lot of trees around. this story is in like every town somewhere and people go thinking its real and think every sound etc is a ghost. i do believe in ghosts but i like to not be influenced by good story telling and atmosphere. theres nothing there.