Crybaby Bridge

by Jessica Craig

Crybaby Bridge located in Anderson, South Carolina that is no longer available to vehicular traffic

 Stepping out of your vehicle, and placing the keys on top of the hood begins the awakening of a mother and infants spirits. Placing baby powder around the hood, and chanting “I have your baby, I have your baby,” will result in your vehicles keys going missing, with prints of a baby’s foot showing up in the baby powder. All occurring on the famous Crybaby Bridge. Readers may view it just as a basic bridge, but the legend behind Crybaby Bridge holds more than just tread marks. Recognized as the bridge that holds a mother and an infant’s spirit.  Crybaby Bridge is distinguished as a nickname given to bridges all over the United states, including places such as: Ohio, Virginia, Oklahoma, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.

 Legend states that if you park on one of the existing Crybaby Bridges that you can hear a cry of a baby or scream from a women. Each Bridge in the United States has their own account behind the myth. Ohio, being the most famous bridge of them all, tells the story as a couple arguing, and the women jumping out and getting hit by a car, which explains why citizens hear the scream of a women while crossing the bridge. Oklahoma, holding the plot twist of them all, reading as not only one child but several children were thrown of the side of the railing by their mother, because they all were a result of her being molested. Texas, where you can hear the crying from a women below the waters of the bridge, whom was killed by her husband, who soon drowned the baby along with the mother. South Carolina, holding the original and most famous myth of them all, containing the mother throwing the infant over the railing then soon hanging herself. Being a citizen living in South Carolina, I have visited the local bridge located in Edgefield, SC. Driving down the spooky trail, we rolled the windows down and instantly I heard women like screams, hearing the screeching my friend had slammed on brakes, and while sitting there in silence our back windshield shattered. 

The definition of an urban legend or a myth is just that: Crybaby Bridge. Depending on one’s belief as far as hauntings or spirits, the noises could actually be from nature itself meaning old wood, old bridges, waterways, or animals in the woods, but the myths keep it intriguing and brings people in from all over the country to experience the historical momentum of the urban legend. Crybaby Bridge could also be just a memorable scare for local citizens. Feel free to visit this historical haunting for a bridge or just the beauty of the nature around it or to make the hair stand up on your neck, either way they are worth the visit. There is nowhere to run, or nowhere to hide from the spirits of Crybaby Bridge.  

Works Cited:

Summers, Ken. “Troubled Waterways: Origins of The Crybaby Bridge Legend.” Week In Weird, 2011, http://weekinweird.com/2011/09/03/troubled-waterways-origins-crybaby-bridge-legend/ 

Jarvis, Robin. “The Stories Behind These 9 Haunted Bridges In South Carolina Will Keep You Up At Night.” Only In Your State, 2016, https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/haunted-bridges-in-sc/ 

Willis, James. “Crybaby Bridge Project.” The Strange and Spooky World of James A. Willis. https://strangeandspookyworld.com/crybaby-bridge-project/ 

Lamkin, Virginia. “Crybaby Bridge: Monmouth, Illinois.” Seeks Ghost. 2012, https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2012/12/crybaby-bridge-monmouth-illinois.html 


Hudson, Marilyn. “Crybaby Bridge-Oklahoma Style.”2007, http://mystorical.blogspot.com/2010/07/cry-baby-bridge-oklahoma-style.html 

Links For Further Research:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYfxYbR6HEI 

Although this video is creepy it holds a documentary of the urban legend of “Crybaby Bridge.”

Cry Baby Bridge

Carolyn Padgett

Urban Legends  have been around for many centuries. Most people think that urban legends can only be scary stories, but truth is, urban legends can be anything from funny to sad or just plain weird (S.E. Schlosser). However, the one thing that they have in common is the fact that they all have a little bit of fiction and mystery in them. Since urban legends have been around for so long, each one has different versions somewhere out in the world. It’s hard to tell which stories are true and which stories are not. It’s up to the audience to figure out which version is the most believable. For instance, Cry Baby Bridge.

Cry Baby Bridge is an urban legend that many believe originated in Ohio (Cry Baby Bridge Tour).  Eventually, the legend spread into many different states, and it became complicated to tell which story was actually true. No one even knows where it started at in Ohio because there are nearly 24 different cry baby bridges in Ohio alone (Cry Baby Bridge Tour).  All of the stories that have been created revolve around a mother and her baby. It really leaves you wondering which story is true and which story is not. Going into further research, all that is on the internet is the many different stories that have been created all across the United States.

In Columbus, Georgia, it is said that a farmer and his wife just had their newborn baby (Roberto). The farmer did not want the baby, so he talked to the doctor and asked him to get rid of it (Roberto). The doctor agreed and told the mother that the baby did not make it (Roberto). Later on that day, he took the baby to a nearby bridge and threw it over into the creek where the baby quickly drowned without the mother ever knowing what happened (Roberto). They say that if you go to this bridge, park dead in the center, sprinkle some baby powder around your car, and get on top of it, you will soon hear the baby’s helpless cries (Roberto). When you get off the top of your car, you will see the baby’s footprints in the baby powder (Roberto).
 
There is also another story told in Woodbridge, New Jersey about a farmer and his wife (Abbey). When they had their baby, they loved it very much (Abbey). However, after a while, the farmer grew jealous that the wife paid more attention to the baby than to him (Abbey). One night, after a long night of the baby’s cries, he grabbed it out of its crib, took it to the creek, and threw it over the bridge (Abbey). He then went back and killed the mother (Abbey). Rumor has it that if you go to the bridge, you will hear the baby’s miserable cries, and the mother will push your car off of the bridge (Abbey).
There are many more stories on Cry Baby Bridge. Though, no one will really be able to tell the true legend, it will always live throughout the many stories that have been spread from state to state. There may be some truth in all of the creative mix of stories, but where exactly did it all start?

Works Cited:
Abbey. “Cry Baby Bridge Ghost Story”. Angels and Ghosts, Charles, Louis. N.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
 
“Crybaby Bridge Tour”. Dead Ohio. N.p., N.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. 

Dalemccartney. “Cry Baby Bridge, Egypt Rd.” Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
 
Roberto. “Cry Baby Bridge in Columbus Ga”. Read-legends-and-myths.com SBI!, N.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
 
S.E. Schlosser. “Urban Legends”. Americanfolklore. S.E. Schlosser, 13 Dec. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
 
Shane. “Cry Baby Bridge”. Your Ghost Stories. N.p., Mar. 28, 2007. Web. Oct. 8, 2015.
 
Further Research:
Your Ghost Stories
www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?=4058. This source is helpful because it helps see what other stories about Cry Baby Bridge are out there. In this case, it’s about Cry Baby Bridge in Mississippi.
 
About Entertainment
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/tp/top10scariest.html. This site is helpful because it shows 25 other scary urban legends that the viewers may be interest in.
 
Love to Know
http://paranormal.lovetoknow.com/Really_Scary_Urban_Legends. This website is useful for further research on scary urban legends.

Tags: urban legends, scary, crybaby bridge, mystery, mother and baby.