The story
Stuckey's Bridge crosses the Chunky River southwest of Meridian, Mississippi, a 19th-century iron truss on old stone piers, and around it winds one of the state's most retold legends: a man remembered only as Stuckey — in the telling a member of the outlaw Dalton clan or a murderous innkeeper, versions vary — who is said to have lured, robbed and killed travellers along the river road, burying them on the banks, until vigilantes hanged him from his own bridge. No court record substantiates the tale, which folklorists class as classic Southern legend, but it has powered generations of night visits: witnesses describe a lantern's glow swinging beneath the span as if carried on a rope, a figure on the bridge, heavy splashes from still water — said to be Stuckey's drop replayed — and cold air at the centre of the crossing. The old bridge is closed to vehicles and ageing; visitors should view in daylight, tread carefully and respect the surrounding private land. The record should present Stuckey wholly as folklore, his supposed victims included, hedged throughout.