Brooks Bridge

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The Brooks Bridge is a four-lane steel and concrete structure that carries highway U.S. Route 98 over Santa Rosa Sound (mile 223 of the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway) just west of the Choctawhatchee Bay between downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida and the three-mile section of Okaloosa Island controlled by the city of Fort Walton Beach. It is named for John T. Brooks, a long-time local developer and city figure. It has a charted clearance of 50 feet above the water.

Constructed in 1965–1966, it replaced a 1935-vintage low-level steel through-truss center-pier swing-span structure immediately west of the current bridge which had become increasingly unreliable with age, the center-pivoting span having been known to get stuck in the open position while allowing for transit of maritime traffic. Removal of the steel work and the old concrete pivot pier began in March 1966 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the new Brooks Bridge reached completion with removal taking about three weeks.

Paranormal activity here is strangely specific: on the third Wednesday of every month, at exactly 12:00am, a pack of wolves emerges here, running across the water. Locals swear they see them, but photographs only show strange blurry shapes. How the wolves manage to keep such precise track of the monthly calendar though is anybody’s guess…

If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know!



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    Geographic Information

    Address:
    Brooks Bridge
    Fort Walton, FL
    United States

    Get Directions »
    GPS:
    30.40053182726131, -86.60049927514649
    County:
    Okaloosa County, Florida
    Nearest Towns:
    Fort Walton Beach, FL (1.2 mi.)
    Cinco Bayou, FL (1.6 mi.)
    Ocean City, FL (2.9 mi.)
    Shalimar, FL (3.4 mi.)
    Lake Lorraine, FL (3.5 mi.)
    Mary Esther, FL (3.8 mi.)
    Wright, FL (4.4 mi.)
    Eglin Air Force Base, FL (5.0 mi.)
    Eglin Village, FL (5.6 mi.)
    Destin, FL (6.3 mi.)
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    Comments (18)

    3. Uh, according to the information given these wolves are seen at 12:00 am, which is lunchtime not midnight!!! So whomever produced video #3, which is already stupid and unbelievable, has no idea that they are there at the wrong time. Duh!

      • 12:00p.m. is lunch time- the a.m. hours start at midnight 12:00a.m. 1:00a.m., 2:00a.m. and so on. The morning hours end at 12:00p.m. and then we have the afternoon 1:00p.m., 2:00p.m. and so on. I don’t know if there are ghosts of wolves there but I can certainly tell you- after working retail for 15 years, if I opened at 12:00a.m. it would be the middle of the night. Sorry to have to correct you. No offense meant.

    5. I’ve seen this claim here and there on sites like this, and have no idea where it came from. Don’t waste your time…Brooks Bridge is not haunted and you won’t see wolves running across the water at midnight. Sheesh

    6. Athena Marler Creamer  |  
      Reply ↓

      I am a native Destinite, and I saw the wolves on Crab Island. Coming from the distance between Ft. Walton and Niceville, circling the bend, running from NW towards the center of the Destin Bridge but they disappeared before they made it. They are FAST. Looked like a pack of about 6, running with each other, some looking at each other with teeth bared, straining ahead, and in a galloping gait. They were larger than real wolves. You could say they flew about 3 to 4 feet over the water. You could see through them being made of thick grey mists but you could see every detail. I was in one of our Premier Powerboat rental boats with my husband and daughters on our anniversary, February 21, 1996 in the early morning. It was a gray and foggy that day, and the water was slick calm and black. By the time I said, Look, they were gone. Later I found out that the Indians used to see them or perhaps had even sent them. I will never forget it. True Story!

    7. I have never seen the wolves…I have seen a lot of ghosts over the 35 years that I have lived in Fort Walton Beach…I find it odd that none of the places that I know without a doubt are haunted did not make your list and wolves over the water did…I’m not saying it’s not true just ..I have never personally witnessed that…however I can tell you that the Old Tringas Theater on Miracle Strip Parkway is extremely haunted by some sort of pilgrim looking people. Also the house on Shrewsberry where the triple homicide took place is violently haunted. Furthermore, Hughs street has a little girl that walks down and tried to get other kids to walk out on front of cars. Last, the Indians near the bayous are true…Not sure about the wolves, but the next time I am near brooks bridge at midnight I will keep my eyes open…lmao

      • let us know if you see anything, because I’ve only heard one person that says they have, and it was the Destin bridge, not the Bailey Bridge.

      • Athena Marler Creamer  |  
        Reply ↓

        Please look on February 21. Maybe they are unleashed in Ft. Walton and run to the Destin bridge. I believe other sightings are on this date I found out later.

    9. I’m not sure if this is considered paranormal- I grew up here and was always terrified of this bridge. But one day my friend’s mother brought me and two others swimming in the sound- only time I’ve ever done so- my dad always took us to Destin despite how close the sound was to our home. When my friend’s mother walked off for a while, the other girl with us decided to jump off the bridge several times- the last time- #3 I believe A HUGE WAVE of jellyfish appeared before she hit the water- it was so sudden that even my friend and I in the shallows were stung as you could see an actual break of oncoming jellyfish- similar to when you can see rain rapidly approaching- the girl jumping from the bridge had to swim through a literal sea of jellyfish from the middle of the bridge were she had jumped, back to shore. She was covered in welts from head to toe by the time she made it in.

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