Most residents of the Triad, and probably a good number of North Carolinians in general, are somewhat familiar with the legend surrounding...
Most residents of the Triad, and probably a good number of North Carolinians in general, are somewhat familiar with the legend surrounding Lydia's Bridge. Depending on who's telling the story, the gist is that since 1923ish, people travelling near an underpass between Jamestown and Greensboro have encountered the ghost of a young hitchhiker named Lydia. Dressed in a white gown, Lydia is looking for a ride home. Once the driver arrives at her destination, he opens the door only to find that she has vanished! Undeterred, the driver goes to the house and asks an elderly woman if Lydia is there. He then discovers that Lydia was killed in a car wreck years ago at that bridge.
Pretty spooky, right? Well today, I'm going to prove to you that the ghost of Lydia really did exist.
First of all, this is Not Lydia's Bridge:
Lots of people mistake Not Lydia's Bridge for Lydia's Bridge as this is the railroad track one drives under when travelling from Greensboro to Jamestown. Lydia's Bridge is actually off the road and about 100 feet away from Not Lydia's Bridge. This is Lydia's Bridge:
Admittedly, Lydia's Bridge is not any scarier than Not Lydia's Bridge. Let's run it through the Strange Carolinas Scare-O-Vision™ filter to get you in the mood for the rest of the story:
Despite the fact that I have neither seen Lydia with my own two eyes nor spoken with anyone who has, I do know the ghost of Lydia once existed. How? They built a new underpass and moved the road from Lydia's Bridge to Not Lydia's Bridge. Do you think the Department of Transportation has enough money lying around to move roads without any reason? No. They wouldn't go to the trouble of building a new underpass if they weren't trying to keep people from picking up a ghost.
You may have noticed that I said the ghost of Lydia ONCE existed. In 2008 and 2009, the Department of Transportation shut down Not Lydia's Bridge for a year for "improvements" and "renovations." It doesn't take a genius to figure out "improvements" and "renovations" were code for arming themselves with proton packs, ghost traps, and Ecto Containment Units in the hopes of catching Lydia. And it obviously worked.
Lydia is no more.
Want proof? First of all, they put up this plaque at Lydia's Bridge (a place where no one is really supposed to be):
Plus, the city of Jamestown was talking about putting a sidewalk through the original underpass at Lydia's Bridge. Would you build a sidewalk through a ghost's home? Not unless you know the ghost has been successfully removed. I've connected the dots and the dots don't lie.
Boo!
What To Know Before You Go
GPS Coordinates: (35.996954, -79.925827)Location: Main Street, Jamestown, NC
Rating
The DOT replaced the bridge for the fairly obvious reason that it's entirely too narrow and short to accomodate modern traffic. It might have been fine for 1920s car but even by the 50s that would've been a major problem
ReplyDeleteDose anyone know what lydia's full name is and where she is buried
ReplyDeleteHer real name is Annie L. Jackson. She is buried in a gated cemetery in the industrial area of Greensboro, North Carolina. An important bit of information to know is that this article makes "Lydia" sound like she's just a child, she was 35 when she died.
Deletehttps://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/ghostly-jamestown-hitchhiker-reveals-herself-to-researchers/article_8f0d6ce6-71d2-11e8-920f-7f045391a3c2.html