An historic wooden bridge spanning the Chunky River in Clarke County will receive a fresh coat of paint Saturday because of recent vandalism.

Stuckey’s Bridge was originally built as the main route across the Chunky River southwest of Meridian. Documents show the bridge was built around 1850. A new bridge replaced the old one in 1901 and was built by the Virginia Bridge and Joint Co. The bridge was listed as a Mississippi Landmark on Aug. 4, 1984, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov. 16, 1988.

Volunteers with the East Mississippi Foothills Land Trust will apply a fresh coat of paint Saturday to remove graffiti from the span. Work on the bridge will begin at 10 a.m. If enough volunteers show up, work is expected to be completed by 1 p.m.

“Landowners who live near the bridge caught some people with gallons of paint and then ran off into the woods,” EMFLT summer intern Memory Morris said. “People who live near the bridge despise how the bridge is looking right now with all the vulgar words and other vandalism on it. I think it has been there for a couple of years now, but it has gotten bad over the last couple of months.”

Morris said the hope is to return the structure to its natural beauty.

“We’re trying to get the bridge’s good, historical feel back to it by painting it one solid color,” Morris said. “We want visitors to be able to enjoy the bridge again.”

The East Mississippi Foothills Land Trust normally removes trash and debris from area rivers and streams. Morris said the bridge is a worthy special project. 

“We normally do the trash pickup, but extended the mission this year to paint the bridge and restore its historical meaning,” Morris said. “The Land Trust’s mission is to preserve ecological areas.”

Morris said volunteer painters will be supplied fresh water, along with a light lunch after the job is completed.

According to local legend, the bridge got its name from a notorious outlaw gang. The legend says a member of the Dalton Gang by the name of “Stuckey” owned a nearby inn where he would rob and murder his guests and bury the victims on the riverbank. The legend says after murdering 20 people, Stuckey was finally apprehended and hanged from the newly constructed bridge on the site of the murders.

Local legend also says the bridge is haunted. There have been rumors of Stuckey haunting the bridge, along with sightings of an old man carrying a lantern along the river’s edge, loud splashes that supposedly represent Stuckey’s body hitting the water after the noose was cut and visions of his corpse have made the rounds over the years.     

To volunteer, contact Morris at 601-480-8162 or via email at emf.landtrust@yahoo.com