Ghost Bride of Bellamy Bridge - Marianna, Florida

This story takes us to Jackson County Florida, May 1837.  A young couple was married that day.  Samuel Bellamy a prominent farmer and Doctor married his long time sweetheart Elizabeth, with whom he grew up with in North Carolina.  Their wedding was held at a new plantation Samuel had built where they would spend their days as a married couple.  However, those happy days would never happen.

The haunted Bellamy Bridge near Marianna, Florida said to be haunted by the ghost of a bride

On their wedding night at the celebration held afterward, it is said that Elizabeth was dancing around and around in her happiness.  She was so caught up with emotion that she got too close to a candles that were in place to light the ceremony.  Her elegant dress went up in flames.  Elizabeth ran from the house screaming as the flames engulfed her.  Those around her ran to her aid, but they were too late.  Hours later she died in Samuel's arms.  Samuel would go on to be successful, but would never remarry and never really recovered from the loss of his bride.  He suffered from depression and in 1853, took his own life.

A phantom bride is said to haunt the swamps along the Chipola River in Florida and cross the Bellamy Bridge near Marianna, Florida

Some say that to this day Elizabeth haunts the area and in particular, a bridge over the Chipola River located nearby where she was buried.  There are many different reports of the form that the ghost of Elizabeth Bellamy takes.  Early on after she died, many claimed to see a full bodied apparition dressed in a white gown rising from her grave and wandering about the misty wooded areas along the river.  Other's claim to see the form of a woman in flames running through the groves of trees and along the Chipola River. There are those witnesses who say they have seen a strange misty form moving along the woods near the river and actually crossing what was once known as the Chipola River Bridge where Elizabeth had crossed during her final days.

The haunted Bellamy Bridge near Marianna, Florida said to be haunted by the ghost of bride Elizabeth Bellamy

The Bellamy Bridge as it is known today, still stands and is the one of the oldest known surviving bridges in the state of Florida.  It is located outside of Marianna, Florida near the Florida Caverns State Park but is inaccessible by road.  The only access is by boat on the Chipola River.  There is a plan underway to create the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail which will make the historic bridge accessible from nearby road 162.  If you visit the area, you may catch a glimpse of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge.