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The Spirits of Crawford Road

Located in the historic town of Yorktown, VA, Crawford Road is an unassuming stretch of blacktop with a graffiti-covered bridge crossing over it. While the unsuspecting tourist might drive along unaware of its reputation, locals know that Crawford Road holds a deadly past. Murders, suicides, and possible demonic activity have culminated in a plethora of hauntings that have been reported for decades. Those who have encountered the ghosts of Crawford Road are often too terrified to ever return.

 

The hauntings of Crawford Road are just one of many ghost stories surrounding Colonial Williamsburg. Book a tour with Colonial Ghosts today and take a step back into the area’s haunted past.

Why Is Crawford Road Haunted?

Haunted Roadway
Copyright US Ghost Adventures

The question of whether or not Crawford Road is haunted stirs up a fair share of controversy among locals. Skeptics claim that there is no historical record of many of the tragic deaths and suicides that occurred along the road. On the other hand, there have been countless eyewitness accounts of paranormal phenomena across multiple decades. 

 

Regardless of whether skeptics should be believed, the stories of ghostly activity along Crawford Road are chilling. Many have encountered a woman in white who jumps from the overpass above Crawford Road. 

 

There is also an abandoned shack in the nearby woods where red glowing eyes are seen peering from the windows. A string of murders along Crawford Road is also said to have contributed to its haunting reputation.

History of Crawford Road

Crawford Road runs through an area known as the Virginia Historic Triangle. This section of the state consists of the cities of Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg. 

 

The most well-known section of the 3.6-mile-long road is where it intersects with the Historical Tour Road Flyover Bridge. This overpass bridge was built in the 1930s and is where the majority of the Crawford Road hauntings are said to occur. 

A History of Death and Murder

Aside from the ghosts and demons, Crawford Road is known for its legacy of deaths and murders. There are multiple reports of Black people being lynched at the Tour Road overpass at the hands of the KKK. 

 

Among the earliest stories is that of a Black woman outrunning the Ku Klux Klan with her baby. The infant was somehow thrown over the bridge or into a nearby stream, and the woman was said to have been lynched. This horrific story earned the Tour Road overpass the unfortunate nickname of “Crybaby Bridge.” 

 

In 1990, a man named Jimmie Johnson was found dead in the woods off Crawford Road. He’d been shot in the back, and his hands and feet were bound. It was around this time that the body of Tonya Lane was found near the road. A man named Jaunnito Edwards was sentenced to life in prison for Johnson’s murder and is a suspect in Lane’s murder as well.

 

Other murders along Crawford Road include Eric Nesbitt in 1996, Shawn Mabry in 2000, and Austin Baxley in 2016. 

 

Although there is no evidence that any of these senseless murders have contributed to the hauntings at Crawford Road, they nevertheless cast a dark shadow on the area.

Ghosts of Crawford Road

For decades, drivers have reported having car trouble when driving under the Tour Road overpass above Crawford Road. The second they’re under the bridge, their car battery will die for no reason. 

 

In one instance, a driver was playing a CD that strangely malfunctioned when going under the overpass. What had been a normal CD suddenly began playing a shrieking voice that continued on the other side of the overpass.

 

Ghost on road
Copyright US Ghost Adventures

Others have witnessed more physical manifestations of the paranormal. There are reports of ghostly apparitions blocking Crawford Road and preventing drivers from moving forward. These could be the spirits of murder victims who lost their lives along the roadway. 

 

There’s an abandoned shack in the woods surrounding Crawford Road, which horror movies will tell you is never a good sign. Those who are adventurous (or foolish) enough to approach the shack often run away in a fit of terror.

 

It’s said that glowing red eyes suddenly appear in the shack windows, leading to rumors of demonic activity. 

 

In 2016, Virginia Paranormal Investigations did a stakeout on Crawford Road. Although they didn’t witness any paranormal phenomena, they did hear footsteps rapidly approach their car and abruptly stop. The investigators weren’t sure who or what was outside their vehicle, but it spooked them enough that they drove away.

The Ghost Bride of Crawford Road

The most famous ghost said to haunt Crawford Road is a woman standing atop the Tour Road overpass wearing a white wedding gown. Legend says that this woman was being forced into marrying a man she didn’t love. Rather than go through with the ceremony, the would-be bride fled to Crawford Road, where she hanged herself from the overpass.

 

Since the bride’s death, drivers have seen her ghostly apparition standing on the overpass. Once the driver is beneath the overpass, they get an overwhelming urge to look in their rearview mirror. 

 

Behind them, they see the phantom body of the bride swinging back and forth. In some cases, an especially unlucky driver hears a “thud” on the roof of their car, which they believe is the ghost bride falling.

 

Although some are skeptical of Crawford Road’s ghost bride, this could be a residual haunting in which a tragic event is replayed over and over. Whatever it is, the story is enough to make locals avoid Crawford Road, even in the daytime.

Haunted Williamsburg

Although people have been telling stories of their ghostly encounters along Crawford Road for decades, it remains very much a mystery. Locals argue over what is fact and what is fiction, but the fact that people are still talking about Crawford Road is a testament to the ghostly hold it has on the area.

 

Fascinated by history and hauntings? Contact Colonial Ghosts today and book a ghost tour you’ll never forget! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real Virginia hauntings.

 

Sources:

  • https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/trip-ideas/virginia/virginia-haunted-road
  • https://www.wtkr.com/2018/11/14/dark-stories-and-gruesome-murders-an-investigation-into-the-legend-of-crawford-road
  • https://wydaily.com/latest/local/2018/03/19/behind-the-grim-legacy-of-crawford-road/
  • https://wydaily.com/latest/local/2016/11/01/ghost-hunters-investigate-legend-of-crawford-road-bridge/

 

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