It’s just another Manic Monday and that means another spectacularly spooky tale of local haunts. Today’s tale is of a haunted railroad that lies over a lonely country road. The Alcovy Trestle is a gorgeously neglected bridge that's nestled against the trees in eastern Newton County. No wonder it has been used as a backdrop in locally filmed movies as well as on some of television’s most popular shows!
Local legend has it the bridge actually predates the Civil War, but was burned in Sherman’s March to the Sea. Luckily the bridge was rebuilt, leaving remnants of brick pillars from the previous bridge still visible. But regardless of the renovations, this bridge is known to have some eerie visitors with a dark past.
In the 1940's, the Alcovy Trestle Bridge was rumored to be the site of several lynchings. Afterward, the lynchers would then reportedly cut the bodies loose, dropping them several feet into the waters below. Many local stories over the years lead us to believe that some of the people who hung from the trestle did not go very far– at least not in spirit!
The sorriest of all stories of Trestle retribution is the story of an interracial love affair. A young black woman became pregnant with a locally prominent white man’s child. She was brought to the trestle bridge where she was violently beaten and then hanged from the rafters.
Several people today have seen “glowing” figures walking along the trestle and the apparition of a young black woman holding her swollen pregnant belly and walking up the embankment from the Alcovy River toward the road. And motorists beware, you are not immune inside your car! We read one account stating that they had an encounter with the pregnant ghoul while merely passing by in their vehicle. They also wrote that they have never driven by again since!
Still, others report seeing the apparition of a young boy riding his bike “in the mist” across the bridge. The ghost appears to be that of a local boy who disappeared on his bicycle and was later found in a clearing off a narrow dirt path that ran from Alcovy Trestle Road into the woods. Rumor has it the boy can be seen pedaling, standing up as if to go faster, looking straight ahead into infinity.
The Alcovy Bridge, lonely and abandoned, is now home to some of Covington’s most tragic ghost stories. Why not drive by the haunted railroad and see if you catch a glimpse of the glowing figures up on the trestle? We’re sure they could use the company.
