Stan and Teresa Fikes, the husband and wife duo of #Wiregrass Haunts, a local Internet radio show that covers reports of paranormal activity all over the USA, recently welcomed historian #Dale Cox to their program. Cox was invited to share his historical expertise on the program, as well as share a few stories of paranormal encounters he had experienced.
Cox’s Story of the Bellamy Bridge
After being asked about where he grew up and what kind of paranormal activity he heard about as a kid, Cox said that the most popular story in the #Florida suburb where he grew up was the one about Bellamy Bridge. Cox told the story about how a young woman was said to have died in the 1830s and was buried near the bridge, and Cox said how he managed to find reports from the 1890s of people alleging to have seen her ghost.
Stump Jumper
Another popular story Cox shared was of a “stump jumper” who is said to be a nocturnal creature often seen in swampy terrain. While he has never encountered it, Cox recalled how the creature would knock loudly on people’s doors at night and disappear when they opened the door. This happened once when Cox’s son was visiting, and Cox remembered how his son woke him, telling him that he had spotted something on two legs that then slithered through the mud and into the surrounding pond. This was Cox’s closest encounter with the being, but his friends and family have also seen it.
Cox told Wiregrass Haunts how #Jackson County is one of the oldest counties, which means there’s plenty of time for stories to build. Speaking on his fondness for conducting research on paranormal topics, Cox stated:
“What I like to do is dig into them and see what the real facts about them are.”
Sources:
- Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail
- Jackson County Times, Evidence of a Ghost at Bellamy Bridge?
- Two Egg, The Monster of Two Egg, Florida?
- Mark Turner’s Mysterious World, “Mini-Bigfoot” Leaves Print – The Strange Monster of Jackson County Florida
- Blogspot, The Dale Cox Blog