Cry Baby Hollow
Kayo Road Bridge
Hartselle, Alabama
Southern legends and lore are filled with tales of “Cry Baby” and other haunted bridges. Some are modern highway bridges while others are ancient, rickety affairs, perhaps even a historic covered bridge, on lonely dirt roads in the woods. Regardless, stories have become attached to these bridges. Some of the tales are typical: either a mother, an infant or both die in an accident in this lonely spot, thus haunting the place until peace may be found in the afterlife. Another typical version has the mother dropping her infant into the waters under the bridge as she is unable to care for the child. Other bridges are the scenes of deadly accidents, the dumping ground for murder victims. Occasionally rituals appear in these legends with those wishing to encounter the spirit stopping their car on the bridge, bringing candy, flashing headlights, sounding the horn or perhaps calling the name of a particular spirit.
The Decatur Daily of Decatur, Alabama reported on one of its local cry baby bridges, this one located in Morgan County, near Hartselle. Sadly, the article only promotes the legends surrounding the location and provides no information to prove or disprove them.
The old bridge on Kayo Road, off US-31, is an unkempt, lonely, and apparently a little used bridge. From some of the photographs circulating the internet, it appears that trash has been dumped along the road, though the bridge may also be popular with fisherman. The article describes a local ghost hunting team, Paranormal Research Alliance of Cullman, who investigated the bridge both at night and during the day. The team did feel uneasy at the location, though this is not a true sign of a haunting. Video taken at the bridge had possible moaning or talking in the background, though this may simply be the sound of cars from US-31 some two miles away. Otherwise, the team did not capture any conclusive evidence that there may be paranormal activity in the location.
There seems to be no lack of stories about the desolate bridge. Many of the typical cry baby bridge stories have been applied including a mother losing an infant in an accident at the site, though, as I mentioned above, the article provides no evidence if any of these things actually occurred. The other primary legend associated with the bridge is that of a serial killer who supposedly operated in the area by the name of Frank Hammond or Hammon.
The article includes a story (from the internet, imagine that!) that speaks of Mr. Hammond’s activities in the 1940s. Gory details such as living quarters with human skins tacked to the walls and a family being brutally murdered one by one with the child witnessing his parents’ deaths before being beaten to death with a hammer are included. The killer was finally caught and died in a Georgia prison by his own hand. One would think his heinous activities would have him serving in Alabama prison for many decades before serving time in neighboring Georgia. While the details make for a memorable story, they just don’t all add up. There is no evidence that this particular serial killer existed, except in the minds of storytellers. Indeed, it seems that serial killers are far less common than urban legends and lore indicate.
Jessica Penot explores this location in her book, Haunted North Alabama. In gathering stories for the book, she encountered a multitude of origins for this legendary location. According to her, the story may predate European settlement of the region and one story involves a local native woman whose child was swept away by flooding during torrential rains. She also notes that some versions of the legend for this spot include bringing candy bars which may be left to appease the spirit.
It does appear that these stories seem to be told about lonely and desolate places. These places tend to spawn urban legends (or perhaps “rural legends” given this specific location). Is there activity at this old bridge on Kayo Road? Perhaps, but the legend is still interesting in spite of it.
Sources
- Hill, Jennifer R. “Hartselle’s haunting: Cry Baby Hollow: Urban legend or forgotten truth?” Decatur Daily. 31 October 2012.
- Penot, Jessica. Haunted North Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
Great read! I love exploring the facts behind the legends, so to speak, and while many never pan out, there's something extremely satisfying in finding a grain of truth as to how any legend began, or equally…finding NOTHING to support the widely accepted stories, lol. Hehe, and I've said it before…if you look at the Shadowlands Index, I would swear that Ohio has the greatest number of cry baby bridges per capita of any state, but none with such an elaborate back story.
Ive been trying to research Mr. Hammond. Last night me and three of my friends set off ghost hunting like always , this time will be my last. We went about 2 minutes past cry baby bridge to a sectioned off portion of the road, im guessing kayo, i wasnt paying attention. Anyways, we get there after missing the exit 4 times, almost running out of gas and having to turn and go back to a station, even the car acting a little strange. So we finally pull up, we all jumped out simultaneously. All three of us except my friend took off towards tgis White thing in the middle of the road, hope stayed behind, uneasy all night anyways. From this point all i remember is throwing my leg over the railing with my brother beside me , it was like i was in a tunnel lile i couldnt see anything but this white thing. Hope recalls me and the others walking towards this thing like robots , meanwhile as she gets closer its harder for her to breathe, and she literally colapses and my friend tara had to help her back to the car, i remember standing there staring at whatever this was , and i know i was recording i had been all night, and then my brother said is that a man and next thing i knew we were in the car , and believe it or not the car started stalling as this thing was getting closer.. I looked at my videos and there is nothing but photos from the other location we had been. Never in my life , out of all the times I've done things like this have i been so scared in my life. This is not made up i wouldnt have taken the time to write this if it was made up. Please tell me where i can find more information on this. My email is raven_wallace@yahoo.com
And i forgot to mention last nigh was a cold rainy night. It gave me chills when we got home and i actually sat down and looked this place up. I truly believe we encountered something evil out here
I’ve been to the bridge in hartselle on Kayo road its creepy didnt hear crying or anything but there were unexplained orbs that could only be seen through camera it was strange also had my supervisor who’s in his 40s that said he had been near it when he was in his 20s ran up on what looked like some sort of crazy meeting of strange looking people they were followed out to the main road after passing
Thank you for sharing your experiences!
When the sun is up there gone when night falls its all fun an games with hartselle
I am primarily an empath. I also possess claircognizant, clairaudient, and clairvoyant abilities. My husband and I went down this road and over the bridge one night a few weeks ago. Without me knowing, my husband had a digital recorded and a P-SB7 spirit box turned on while going down the hill to this bridge. After we crossed the bridge, I immediately became overwhelmed by emotions. I started crying and I kept repeating “it was a little boy, it was a little boy”. I also immediately felt a woman’s presence. It felt like a very motherly energy. I know the overwhelming emotions I was experiencing were not my own. They were her’s. I could feel her desperation. She was searching for her child. I also felt she was trapped in this location by a very negative male energy. I told my husband that I was getting the years between 1940-1960. Then as we continued down the road, out of nowhere I pointed to the right side of the woods and said there was a cabin in those woods and it holds nothing but evil. Keep in mind that at the time we went down this road neither of us knew anything about that location and it’s history. Then we arrived at a curve that went to the left and up at the top were rail road tracks. I stopped dead in the road and said that I could not go any further and that I felt I needed to turn around and go home. The eerie part was once we got back out to the main road we heard a train horn in the distance. I, without a doubt, know that this poor lost mother’s soul watched over me that night. I felt her presence all the way home. After I got home I kept feeling the overwhelming need to try to see if she would communicate with me audibly through the spirit box. As soon as I turned it on I heard a female voice say “hi!”. It was crystal clear. It sounded as if she was happy that someone could finally hear her. My husband in the meantime was reviewing the audio on the digital recorder from earlier and he heard the word “Jesus” several times. I did all I knew to do to try and help her lost soul find peace. I let her know that she was safe and that she did not have to be trapped in those woods any longer. I told her if she sees a white light to go to it. I then heard a woman’s voice say “heaven” and I never got anymore responses from her after that. It was an insane experience and I definitely do not recommend just anyone going to this location because there is evil energy there as well. I feel that most people go to this place just for a good “spook” and are disrespectful of the location as well as the energies that are there. I can say without a doubt that this place is full of intense residual energy and IS NOT for the faint of heart. If you do decide to check this place out then please be respectful. Do not leave trash lying around. I can tell you that leaving candy bars is just a waste. I didn’t feel any “trapped” young energy there. Just primarily the distraught and desperate mother energy. Still to this day I think about her at least once a day and I pray that by me interacting and talking to her was enough to help her find peace and finally cross over to be with her family.
Wow I just read this I live at the end of this road and yes when we go down that road my daughter screams to the top of her lungs till we get home she hated that road something evil is there for sure