Stuckey’s Bridge is a 157-year–old structure that crosses the Chunky River in Savoy on Stuckey’s Bridge Road. It was built a decade prior to the Civil War, the bridge, which is made of wooden planks and rusty metal, was never meant for the use of cars. The telling of the legend appears in L.N. Fairley and J.T. Dawson’s, Paths to the Past: An Overview History of Lauderdale County, which is published by, and can be found within, the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History. That version of the legend begins with the passage through Meridian of the infamous Dalton Gang. The gang is said to have left behind a member by the name of Stuckey. Old Man Stuckey had a hotel near the bridge site in the mid 1800s. The old man would murder his hotel guests, steal their valuables, and bury the bodies along the riverbank. He was eventually found out, caught, and was hung from the bridge. Now people claim to see an old man walking the banks of the river with a lantern at night and hearing splashes in the water under the bridge when the river is otherwise perfectly quiet.

After the bridge was erected in 1850, Stuckey was caught, tried, and hung from the railings of the bridge. He was left hanging there for 5 days, then cut loose. The ghost is more commonly reported to manifest itself in the form of visible apparitions or untraceable sounds. According to Roadsites.org’s Lost Highway, many claim to have seen the ghost in the form of an old man carrying a lantern along the banks of the Chunky or to have heard the conspicuous sound, with no apparent source, of a loud splash from beneath the bridge. Rumor holds that the splashes are echoes of Stuckey’s body hitting the water after being cut from the noose, and that anyone looking in the right spot at the time of the splash will be able to see a glowing spot where his body met with the cold waters of the Chunky river. Probably the most popular story about Stuckey’s ghost, however, is that on certain nights his corpse can be seen, still hanging from the bridge. You can find Stuckey Bridge Road in Savoy, where it intersects with Meehan-Savoy Road. Just look for the sign that says “STUCKEY BRIDGE CLOSED” in big black letters