Question: I remember reading in the 1960s or 70s about a woman that was in a fatal accident on a bridge span in Shelbyville and is said to be haunting the area. People reported seeing a shadow on the bridge at the scene of the accident.  Can you tell me more about this?  Is it an urban legend?

Answer: The Shelby County Historical Society gave one possible answer:  There used to be an old steele bridge on Zaring Mill Road called the Muir Bridge that was later torn down.  A big house on the hill overlooking the bridge was owned in the 1880s by a Navy commander named Muir.  Supposedly he is the ghost on the bridge  and in his old house, as well.  A couple that lived in the house in the 1960s often heard footsteps in the house and after locking the house up at night would awake to find the front door wide open. The house and bridge was a favorite hangout for teenages in the 1960s looking for something to do.

I also did a Google search for “ghosts and Shelby County.” Several Ky ghost hunting web sites had a possible answer, including one  from the Ky Ghost Investigators Web page:

http://ghostinvestigator.tripod.com/kentuckygis/id14.html

Shelbyville: When you cross Cry Baby Bridge you hear a baby’s cry and if spread baby power on the roof of your car you will see the foot prints of a dead baby, that was killed in a car wreck along with his mother.

Truth or legend? You decide.

Linda Niemi

Filed under: Kentucky history