Not too far south of Hattiesburg, Mississippi is an old bridge that many claims to be haunted by the apparition of a woman killed in a car accident decades ago.
This episode of Southern Gothic is part of our Campfire Tales, a series of daily podcasts released during Halloween 2022!
On the eastern edge of Florida is Amelia Island, a beautiful tourist destination that boasts exquisite beaches, luxurious golf courses, and quaint bed & breakfasts. But the island is also home to a unique urban legend that claims a coven of witches once lived here, and their leader was in control of a vicious demon named Wiccademus.
This episode of Southern Gothic is part of our Campfire Tales, a series of daily podcasts released during Halloween 2022!
Legend says that the Bellamy Bridge in Marianna, Florida is haunted by a woman, who's life was supposedly lost to a vicious fire on her wedding night in 1837.; however, legend and history tell two different tales as to the origin of the Lady of Bellamy Bridge.
Founded in 1565 by the Spanish, St. Augustine, Florida is one of America's oldest surviving cities; and while the history of this three century old port, once instrumental in early colonization by the Spanish, is rich with tales of hauntings and folklore, one of its most infamous haunted structures is a lighthouse built by the United States Federal Government between 1871-1874
Legend says that a vicious alligator once roamed the swamps & farmland along the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama. The creature was over fourteen feet in length, had glowing red eyes and an undeniably monstrous strength. Locals called him Two-Toed Tom for his unique footprint. The demon gator had lost all but two of the toes on his left foot after being caught in a steel trap.
For over two decades Tom preyed upon livestock, with all attempts to be stopped thwarted by his undeniable strength.
The legend of Two-Toed Tom was first published in 1934. Author Carl Carmer recounted the tale in his acclaimed work Stars Fell on Alabama which outlined folklore from all across the state. Carmer tells the story of Pap Haines who purchased 40 acres of land from the lumber company in South Alabama. Locals warned Pap that he shouldn’t keep any livestock on his new property or else he might attract the attention of a local alligator who was like no other he’d ever encountered, but Pap ignored the warnings. The result was an epic battle between man and beast.
Pap wasn’t the only man to attempt to hunt the demon gator. After decades of Tom’s destruction, a group of Alabamians were finally able to chase him out, all the way across the border into Northwest Florida. Some say he made a home in a pond near Esto in Holmes County where locals claim he’d let out a deep monstrous bellow every time the nearby lumber company’s whistle would go off.
Eventually sightings of Two-Toed Tom began to waver and speculation of his demise began. Then, a half century after Carmer published the story of Pap Haines, the tracks of an enormous alligator were found on a sandbar at Boynton Island on the Choctawahtchee. These monstrous footprints had two toes.
Whether these tracks were in fact Two-Toed is still a mystery to this day.
Construction of Fort Jefferson began in the early 19th century to address the growing need for America to protect its shores. The resulting massive coastal fortress is the largest masonry structure on American soil; however, its history as a defensive outpost is far overshadowed by its time spent as a prison, housing Union Army deserters and none other than the very men convicted for successfully conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
