Burnt Bridge

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Although the old bridge has been replaced, legend has it that it used to be haunted by a girl in a prom dress who was killed there.

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Geographic Information

Address:
Burnt Bridge Rd.
Hattiesburg, MS
United States

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GPS:
31.24816625430882, -89.4579972626525
County:
Lamar County, Mississippi
Nearest Towns:
West Hattiesburg, MS (6.9 mi.)
Purvis, MS (7.8 mi.)
Arnold Line, MS (7.8 mi.)
Rawls Springs, MS (10.5 mi.)
Hattiesburg, MS (11.3 mi.)
Glendale, MS (12.0 mi.)
Sumrall, MS (12.7 mi.)
Petal, MS (13.5 mi.)
Lumberton, MS (17.1 mi.)
Seminary, MS (21.8 mi.)
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Comments (21)

  1. I was told by an elderly member of the community that the “Headless Woman of Burnt Bridge” was a story made up and passed down by accident. The “Headless” woman was actually the wife of a WWII draft dodger who hid out in Black Creek Swamp to avoid arrest. The wife often wore a light colored dress with a black shawl over her head to protect her from the night air. She carried a kerosene lantern and took her husband food and supplies late on dark nights. Hunters often saw her from a distance and the legend was born. It was perpetuated to protect the man and as time went by became an urban legend. The old bridge actually did burn early in the 1900 in a cattle and sheep feud. The man on the south side of the creek owned cattle and the gentleman on the north side owned sheep. Sheep destroy grazing vegetation for cattle so the cattleman burned the bridge to keep the sheep from crossing the creek. It was always fun as a teenager to take a date to the old bridge Rd. to look for the Headless Woman LOL. They always sat a lot closer to me in the seat.

    • story is a woman was killed on the bridge she was supposed to be a witch after her death the Church up the road burnt down as well as the bridge, hints the name burnt bridge. some say it was an act of god.

    • You’re 100% correct. My grandparents lived just up the street from the area and every Halloween teens would come to the house asking how to find the headless woman. We played along but my grandparents always told us the real story
      ..just as you have told it.

  3. I too heard the old story of burnt bridge. Coincidently I live on the new burnt bridge rd. the story I heard growing up was that a couple was driving home from prom late on a stormy night and the car crashed on the bridge. In the crash the girl was decapitated but the boy survived. The car either caught fire or completely exploded and set the whole bridge aflame. The remnants of the bridge are actually still out there. They’re up in the woods now and I’ve actually walked across them before. Just boards and rotting planks. But the story goes that if u drive over what’s left of the original bridge on a dark and stormy night, the poor decapitated girl will jump onto the roof of your car and hitch a ride across the bridge that she never left. It was spookier when we were kids lol

  4. The story of the headless woman at Burnt Bridge has been around a long time. There are many different versions to it. As said in the first comment on this page, the story about a soldier whose wife would bring him food at night is true but it was during WW1 not WW2. I know this because that soldier was my great grandfather who deserted and hid out in Black Creek swamp which is less than 1 mile from their old home on Burnt Bridge Rd. He hid there for a long time while being chased at times by law enforcement using dogs but was never caught. He finally turned himself in and was pardoned.. I was told that my great grandmother went to meet him one evening and her apron was bloody because she had killed a chicken to cook. She was seen by some people and threw the apron over her head to hide her face making it look like she was headless. As I said there are many stories as to how this legend started and there was a woman decapitated in an accident on the old bridge in the early 1900’s according to the old timers that lived in this area. I grew up and still live in the community and no matter what story started the legend, I like the one with my great grandparents because I know the majority of it is true.

  5. I live in Purvis and traveled the road many times going back and forth work. I had heard the tales about seeing a woman on the bridge. One day on my way to work, I saw a woman on the bridge. I blinked because I wanted to be sure of what I was seeing. The woman was sitting or leaning on the rail looking down into the water, she never looked up when I passed by. She was wearing what looked like a sleep shirt, or a big t-shirt, nothing old fashioned, just a gown or big shirt. She had long blond hair and I slowed down a bit because I thought she may be contemplating jumping or something, just lost in thought. I passed an old caddy with a couple of older folks in it who, as I watched in my rear view mirror, stopped beside the girl on the bridge. The old man got out, walked over to her and took her by the elbow and led her to the car and she got in. Then he got in and drove away. I don’t know if what I saw was a ghost, but I saw something that day.

  6. Near burnt bridge is a dirt road called Clyde Smith cut off. My grandfather was a deputy officer and worked a case there because a man was cut in half by his wife because he was having an affair. She dumped his top half there and bottom half at the woman’s house he was having an affair with. My grandfather said it is rumored that the women escaped prison and went back to the bridge and jumped into the water. She was never seen again. He says there are always reports of screaming in the woods and the sounds of sawing.

    • I heard the same thing and that you hear screams out there and people will say its panthers. And that the clyde story is accurate

      • The “headless woman of Burnt Bridge” was a relative of ours… the story is well known in its various forms. Out of respect for the immediate family the story was allowed to be legendized… noone wanted the story of a parent skipping out on military in that time.
        The Version that is told above where the woman was taking food to her husband is the trueth… she would throw her shawl over head and take cover if she was seen on her way to or from meeting her husband. She was my Gr… Aunt.

  7. I am looking into some paranormal investigations in this area. I grew up in Hattiesburg and I am interested in some of the local lore. I would really like to hear some. Thanks

    • I lived off Burnt Bridge. One night my boyfriend and I were fighting and he left. I drive around looking for him and finally stopped at the burnt bridge church near the bridge. While pulling in, I hit a bad hole in the parking lot that could of made my car flip because part of it was 4 ft deep. I could him and told him about the incident and he came to the church too. We were in the parking lot fighting and suddenly we both her a woman scream and two things splash and hit the water. The crazy thing is though there is no water anymore at the bridge. We both heard the sounds and agreed to leave. He drove in front of me and I was in my car (2013 yellow Camaro SS). When I got on the road off the driveway from the church my windows fogged up and it got really cold. So I turned on my heater. This is the dead summer too, it’s not cold. Suddenly I look in my rear view mirror and saw a woman with her mouth open and no body, just a head. She was white and had a blue glow around her and she appeared under water because her hair was standing up. I screamed the whole way home. All I could see is my boyfriends taillight a through the fog. I rolled my windows down trying to see. I lived about 1/2 a mile away and she was still in the rear view mirror the whole time till I got out of the car. I didn’t even turn the car off. I threw it in parked and ran out screaming down the road. I have never been so scared in my life! After I had calmed down, my boyfriend went to turn my car off. He said the Windows were still fogged and the car was ice cold to the touch and he got chills from it. I didn’t come near my car for a week and since then I have not went across that bridge. Before this happened I didn’t believe things from the other side could harm me. If my boyfriend hadn’t been in front of me driving I believe I would of wreaked.

      • Yes and its smoke not fog BC people believed to burn the bridge would stop the activity. Its actually Indian burial grounds along with multiple horrible things that happened in that area. Its just outside the city limits where people went to do bad things. And the land is still not developed.

        • I know because my great grandmother now my aunt owns over 100 acres in which Clyde Smith road is. In fact that is my brothers name. There are several stories that my dad and his sister witnessed. There was a deer woman. She would lure a man in the woods then trample them. A screaming woman who supposedly scratched my uncle. And they also told me that a man knocked on their door covered in blood asking if he could get cleaned up there. Most of these stories are probably true which is why its so haunted. Including some of the things these other people say. The car wreck is the only one that’s new to me.

  8. I lived off Burnt Bridge. One night my boyfriend and I were fighting and he left. I drive around looking for him and finally stopped at the burnt bridge church near the bridge. While pulling in, I hit a bad hole in the parking lot that could of made my car flip because part of it was 4 ft deep. I could him and told him about the incident and he came to the church too. We were in the parking lot fighting and suddenly we both her a woman scream and two things splash and hit the water. The crazy thing is though there is no water anymore at the bridge. We both heard the sounds and agreed to leave. He drove in front of me and I was in my car (2013 yellow Camaro SS). When I got on the road off the driveway from the church my windows fogged up and it got really cold. So I turned on my heater. This is the dead summer too, it’s not cold. Suddenly I look in my rear view mirror and saw a woman with her mouth open and no body, just a head. She was white and had a blue glow around her and she appeared under water because her hair was standing up. I screamed the whole way home. All I could see is my boyfriends taillight a through the fog. I rolled my windows down trying to see. I lived about 1/2 a mile away and she was still in the rear view mirror the whole time till I got out of the car. I didn’t even turn the car off. I threw it in parked and ran out screaming down the road. I have never been so scared in my life! After I had calmed down, my boyfriend went to turn my car off. He said the Windows were still fogged and the car was ice cold to the touch and he got chills from it. I didn’t come near my car for a week and since then I have not went across that bridge. Before this happened I didn’t believe things from the other side could harm me. If my boyfriend hadn’t been in front of me driving I believe I would of wreaked.

  9. back in the late 60s a man and woman were attacked on the old bridge , they claimed a “big black hairy monster” grabbed the passenger door of thier vehicle ( that was actually torn off the vehicle ) and the woman was grabbed and was bruised up really badly , I remember hearing tis on WDAM nightly news at that time Can’t remember the year , but do remember a cousin who got lost for 3 days in that area around the bridge and when he was found he had no memory of the time he was lost

  10. One of my best friends lives on Burnt Bridge Road about 3/4 of a mile past the new bridge. We used to have parties out in the woods across from his house back in high school. On several of those occasions we did hear what sounded like a woman screaming for her life although I have never actually seen any apparition there. On another occasion a couple of friends of mine and I turned off of 589 onto Burnt Bridge and as soon as the front tires of the car hit the bridge they both popped and went flat. Maybe just a coincidence, maybe not who knows?

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