America's Haunted Highways
On the road this Halloween? Make sure you're on your guard if you find yourself driving on these spooky highways. ;)
State Road 15 North in Bristol, Indiana: Legend has it, if you drive north on State Road 15, past the toll road you will come across a house on the left, directly before the state line. Stop and study this house. Eventually, if you sit there long enough, the spirit of the owner of the house parts the curtains and waves at you.
US HWY 20 in Brushy Prairie, Indiana: Most active around the holidays, there exists an urban legend of a Lady in White. She wears a wedding dress and when people try to pick her up, she disappears. This supposedly happens between the midnight and 5am hours.
Highway 12 West in Fredrica, Delaware: The legend - A man, quite angry with his landlord, murdered the landlord then ground him up with cornmeal. He then fed it to his dog. It is said that the phantom dog with its red, glowing eyes can be seen by drivers at night along the side of the road.
Interstate 65 - Evergreen, AL: A section of this modern thruway is haunted. Engineers built the highway over sacred Creek Indian burial grounds. The hills around Evergreen remain the Creeks' spiritual home, and many believe that their ghosts haunt the white man's highway that runs through the middle of it. The Creeks loved the land so much that they said goodbye to every tree and hill when they were forced to leave the area in the 1830s. Of 15,000 Creeks who marched to a reservation in Oklahoma, more than 3,00 died along the way. Between 1984 and 1990, there were 519 accidents, 208 injuries, and 23 deaths on this 40 mile stretch of highway. The road is even, straight, and well maintained, but the accident rate is well above average.
Highway 11 - Decatur, AL: The ghost of a young man flagging down a ride is invariably struck by drivers trying to avoid him. Lonnie Stephens was falsely accused of murdering his girlfriend in September 1934, and it was not until many years later that the real killer confessed. But it was too late for Lonnie. The innocent man managed to escape from a chain gang and was attempting to hitch a ride when he was struck and killed by a car. Lonnie's ghost is still seen standing in the middle of the road pleading for someone to stop, his arms outstretched in and imploring gesture. Lonnie's ghost is seen on the northbound lanes of Highway 11, and exit off Highway 565 between Decatur and Huntsville.
Highway 365 - Little Rock, AR: Several versions of the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend originate on the highways between Little Rock and surrounding communities. Someone picks up a young girl hitchhiking, usually on a rainy night, and when the driver gets to the house where the girl wants to get out she disappears. The astounded driver knocks on the door of the residence only to be told that the ghost of the owner's daughter returns on the anniversary of her death. The girl died in a car wreck at the spot where the driver picked her up. The haunted area on Highway 365 is from Little Rock to Woodson, and from Redfield to Pine Bluff.
U.S. Highway 64 - Little Rock, AR: North of Little Rock is the stomping ground of another highway ghost, but this one has a name. Laura Starr Latta died a month before her 20th birthday in an accident on the old road in 1899. The area on U.S. Highway 64 runs from Conway to Morrilton.
Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever experienced any strange or paranormal happenings on the road? We'd like to hear about it. Email Johanna: jinman@mercer-trans.com
Happy Halloween!