The scariest road in Georgia?  Maybe America?

In this case, Middle Georgia Haunted History takes a trip to one of our far eastern counties, Bulloch County, to explore a tale that claims to contain Georgia’s most “haunted” road.  Thankfully for us, and you, it has a “dark history” that allegedly made it what it is today, meaning we can explore it.  Before we share the “happenings” (there are hundreds) of the road, let’s share its historic significance first.

According to the legend, Robertson Road (nicknamed Ghost Road) used to be part of the Savannah and Southern Railroad system and wasn’t a road at all (7 miles if you count Railroad Bed Road that connects to it.)  Some locals have mentioned in books and newspaper articles that there once was a terrible, gruesome accident there that contributes to its current nightly status.

Folklore states that a railroad worker hopped off of a train in this area to check a mechanism between its engine.  While the engineer was totally unaware of this and throttled the train forward.  Tragically, the worker had slipped into the locomotive’s parts and was decapitated. 

Continuing with the legend, the engineer, who was still completely blind to what happened, continued his journey.  It wasn’t until the train had reached its destination when they discovered the worker was missing.  His body was found the next day, but never his head, or so the story states.   Now, we ask, is this true?  Here’s what we found.

What is known is that Roberson Road is a connecting dirt road between Highway 80 and Railroad Bed Road.  It doesn’t appear that there were ever any railroad tracks on Robertson (we could be wrong), but it’s highly likely that Railroad Bed was actually the one who was once part of the railroad tracks of the area.  Oddly, there’s nothing written and proven for certain (that we found).

Although this story did actually make its way into the “Statesboro Herald,” it appears to be a piece written before Halloween almost fifteen years ago.  That article is the one that names the “Savannah and Southern .”  We didn’t find a record of it though.  We did, however, find a record of Savannah and the Atlantic Railroad.  Either way, there is no report of a worker dying in this area.  In fact, the only historical record of the properties on Robertson Road are agricultural related.   Remember, though, that many farmers would have depended on the railways during the heyday of the rail systems, so there’s really no doubt that the tracks were in the area.  With that said, it was more than likely on Railroad Bed Road instead.  We may have to visit local libraries to learn more and do a follow-up.  We didn’t have anyone return our calls from surrounding historical societies.

What was wild to us, is that there are dozens of stories identical to this one from all around the country.   What they have in common is that there is a large population of younger people in those areas, like colleges.  That may not mean anything, but we felt it was worth noting at least.  With everything we post, you decide!

There’s also a mention of a cemetery nearby.  After sifting through satellite pictures, we didn’t find any burial sites.  Please note, the area is heavily wooded and can easily cover up an old cemetery.  We must always warn you to never vandalize, trespass or break any law when it comes to “haunted locations”or any other place for that matter.

So what are the “spooky” claims?  There are many.  It’s mostly known for its “ghostly” light that appears.  There’s also mention of a headless man being spotted, ghost dogs digging a grave, and a man that will approach your vehicle making it shut off before he disappears.   That is just a small fraction of the tales from this road.  You can Google search and YouTube some videos to learn more about those claims.  Again, we don’t debate “hauntings,” we debate history.

Sigh.  We do, however, always try to keep an open mind.  So we want to say the following:  due to the numerous claims, articles and book mentions, we feel that there still may be something to this story.  We feel like there is just too much going on for there to be no real historical events connected to it. Another thought is that it’s just a dark, creepy road that college kids like to go to for a thrill. We will continue to research and do a follow-up.  Also, we never claim to be perfect, so if you know something that can help us confirm or deny the history, send us an email at hauntedhistory@protonmail.com.

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