This is going to be a long blog entry. So, settle in and take your time reading it.
Crybaby Bridge is an urban legend in a good number of states in the USA. The one I am most familiar with is in Saraland-Satsuma area of Alabama, about ten miles from where I live in Mobile, Alabama. The Crybaby Bridge Legend in Saraland is off of Kali Oka Road. You must go carefully around the aptly named "Dead Man's Curve" (many fatal car accidents here). This will take you to Crybaby Bridge and the Kali Oka Plantation. The old plantation is one of the few places that is spooky even in the daytime. There are the plantation house and the slave quarters. Some have said you can see a woman lighting candles in the slave's house some nights. Crybaby Bridge is named because, as I'm sure you have surmised, some have said you can hear a baby crying under the bridge at certain times, mostly between midnight and 3AM. Part of the Legend of Crybaby Bridge is that the Master of the plantation was a brutal, heartless man. His wife took as her lover, a huge slave whose name is lost to history. The Master found both in a lovers embrace. You can imagine what happened next. The Master of the plantation cut off both hands of the slave, chained him to a tree to die. Not long afterward, the Mistress of the plantation found she was pregnant by the slave. When it was time for the baby to be born, the mistress went into the woods to have the baby. She then drowned the newborn baby in a creek where the old Crybaby Bridge is (it has since been discontinued for traffic and a new one was built). Some nights, it is said you can see the ghost of the huge slave looking for his long lost baby boy down Kali Oka Road.
It just so happens, I lived around the area of Crybaby Bridge as a teenager (12-13 years of age) back in the early to mid-60s. We lived about 3 miles from the old plantation on Kali Oka Road. One summer's night, we decided to see if it were true, that you could hear a baby cry from under Crybaby Bridge. It was about 9PM. My parents were at our next door neighbors house. They would be playing bridge past midnight since it was a Friday night. Even if they got home before me and my brother, we could sneak in our bedroom window without being caught. So, myself, my brother and two friends of mine, Charlie and his brother Allan, went on our bicycles riding the 3 miles to Crybaby Bridge. None of us were brave enough to go to the plantation on Kali Oka Road. But, once we got to the bridge, we could see an eerie, shimmering light near the plantation home. This was about 10PM. My brother started whining, wanting to go home. We had only been there 5 minutes. I told him I wasn't leaving until midnight, if at that. Charlie had brought some chips and a six-pack of cold coca-cola for us all. So, we parked our bikes near the bridge and we just waited. As we ate our chips and drank our coke (in those days it was real coke, not the filtered crap they make now), we could hear the water going under the bridge. It was so quiet, as I remember. Not many cars that time of night because of the legend and, of course, Dead Man's Curve ending many a drunk teenager's life.
Around midnight, we were all getting restless. Outside of that eerie shimmering light near the plantation, we had seen or heard nothing at all. We were all thinking this had been a waste of a valuable summer night. Finally, about 12:30AM, I told Charlie we needed to get back on our bikes and head home. Charlie agreed as his brother Allan was sleepy and so was my brother. As we got on our bikes, Allan said he heard a cat meowing. I thought I heard it also. We put our bikes back down and went back on the bridge. But, we soon realized it was not a cat meowing. It was definitely the faint cries of a baby we heard that night. This lasted about two minutes and then stopped. We all looked at each other for a few seconds and got back on our bikes. We didn't say anything to each other as we rode back home. In fact, Charlie and I never discussed Crybaby Bridge again. Neither did my brother and I. It was just something that we decided we didn't want to talk about. It was far too chilling to discuss. I can't explain those baby cries we heard that night. But, I know a baby's cry when I hear it.
Now, you may be wondering, why is he discussing this in a blog entry. I'm bringing this up because a 15-year-old nephew went to Crybaby Bridge last Saturday night, with his girlfriend, and heard the faint cries of a baby also. He didn't want to talk about it much either. Legend or not, those cries of an infant stays with your forever. I may discuss some more urban legends in the future.
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4 comments:
Wow David what a gripping story. How interesting that the poor baby is still locked in time. It needs a spiritualist or whatever they call them to let it go. So sad...what horrendous stories there must have been in those times. I have never had any experiences like that with ghosts just with clairvoyants moreso. I really enjoyed your post, truly fascinating. Now I hope I don't have bad dreams lol. I get frightened easily and I think you and your brother and friend were very brave to do that. I could not have. Did you ever own up to your parents about what you were doing that night? And ot think your nephew went through the same thing, wow. Poor wee baby.
Lilly,
My little brother spilled the beans (as usual) about two weeks later to my father. He grounded us for the rest of the summer for doing that. He had warned us not to ever go in that area without an adult.
I have talked to a few other people who have gone to Crybaby Bridge around the wee mornings and heard a baby crying. Others have said they heard nothing more than the meandering sounds of the creek under the bridge. It just happens too much for it to be a mere coincidence. There are other legends in my state (Alabama) that I will share at a later date. Hope you slept welll! I did not sleep well for several weeks after that incident at Crybaby Bridge as a little boy.
I live in mobile. I just visited crybaby bridge for the first time today. (working near kali oka road) My fiance had told me about this place a while back. We drove down oak grove road, even walked to the cemetery that is off that road back in the woods. but it was daytime when we walked back there and there was a gate around the cemetery with chains and a note that read "if you can read this you passed 2 no trespassing signs on your way and your picture has been taken __________" the rest wasnt legible anymore. have u seen the cemetery? which house is supposed to be the old plantation house? The first or the second? there were 2 big houses, you can tell they have been remodeled. we drove back through there at about 8pm kinda creepy but still wasnt late enough to be too creepy. I love these types of things. Which area of the creek is supposed to be the place thats the most haunted? I want to go back but at the right time.
danit88,
It has been close to 50 years since I have been back to crybaby bridge. My experience took place back in the early 60s. If I remember correctly, the first house was the slave quarters. But, as I said, it has been a long time ago. I never went to the cemetery or the the plantation itself. I was too scared! The part of the creek around the old crybaby bridge (which I understand is no longer in use) is the area that is supposedly the most haunted. I don't plan on ever going back. Even now, the thought of that place scares this old man. :)
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