On the outskirts of Meridian in rural Lauderdale County, an old truss bridge spans the Chunky River—a tributary of the Chickasawhay River. Designated a Mississippi Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the bridge has long been closed to vehicles. Yet many a visitor still ventures out onto Stuckey’s Bridge in search of the ghost of Old Man Stuckey.
Legend has it that the infamous train-robbing Dalton Gang passed through Meridian in the late 1800s, leaving behind a member of their group. Stuckey made his way down the old dirt stage road along the Chunky River and established an inn beside its banks. At dusk, he would cross the bridge with his lantern and call out to exhausted travelers floating on the river to stop for the night for a hot meal and comfortable bed.
Stuckey killed more than twenty victims before he was caught by the local sheriff, tried, and hung from the bridge. His body swung for five days over the Chunky River.
Once the guests had drifted off to sleep, Stuckey would murder them in their beds, stealing their belongings and burying their bodies at the river’s edge. Stuckey killed more than twenty victims before he was caught by the local sheriff, tried, and hung from the bridge. His body swung for five days over the Chunky River before the noose was cut and he dropped to the water.
The original bridge from Stuckey’s days was replaced in 1901 by the current truss bridge, but the replacement apparently didn’t deter Stuckey from “hanging” around. Visitors have reported peculiar sights at the bridge, from an old man carrying a lantern at the water’s edge, to the sound of Stuckey’s lifeless corpse splashing into the water flowing below. Some have seen Stuckey’s body swaying in the wind, and others claim that Stuckey’s angry ghost pushed them off the bridge.
So if you dare, next time you’re near Meridian, take a short detour off I-59 and visit Stuckey’s Bridge, which the Travel Channel labels as one of the Most Terrifying Places in America. Find more haunted inspiration at visitmississippi.org/go/haunted-mississippi/.
