Maxdale, TX - Bridge & Cemetery - July 9, 2004

Location:  Maxdale Bridge and Maxdale Cemetery (Maxdale, TX)

Map to Maxdale Bridge

Directions: From Highway 190 in Killeen, take Highway 195 south about 10 miles, then turn west onto FM 2670. Go about 3.7 miles until you see a historical marker sign on the right. Turn left across from the historical marker sign, and the bridge is maybe 1/10 mile up. To get to the cemetery, keep going straight on 2670 past the historical marker sign and across the three new bridges. Turn left onto Wolfridge Road just past the last bridge. There is a sign with an arrow pointing out Wolfridge Road and Maxdale Road. Past the white church on the right will be the Maxdale Cemetery. It is directly across from the old bridge.

Background: Read the stories about haunted Maxdale.

Texas Ghost Hunters Investigation:

Date: July 9, 2004
Time: 10:00 – 10:20 PM
Temperature: 79º
Conditions: Fair to partly cloudy
Humidity: 78%
Barometer: 30.01 rising
Wind: 12 mph
Moon: Waning crescent/approximately 30%

Investigation Log:

This is the first location our newly fledged ghost-hunting group decided to investigate. Our investigative tools are limited at this time, so it’s probably more accurate to say we’re currently observing and recording rather than truly investigating.

One of our members, Nevaeh, lost a close friend to an auto accident in Maxdale, so this place has always had great significance to her. She also told us some of the strange experiences she had in Maxdale, and fascinated, we wanted to visit for ourselves.

We went during the daytime first, to check out the area, and get some photos. The old Maxdale Bridge is directly across from a historical marker on a fairly sharp left turn. There is a house on stilts on the land just to the left of the bridge. There are metal barricades in front of the bridge now, so you can’t drive across it, but you can walk. Do so with care, however, as there are wooden planks missing and gaps covered with plywood. The iron cables holding up the old bridge rattle and bang together in the wind, which can create an eerie sound. We crossed the bridge and went back again. Nothing supernatural happened, but then, we didn’t really expect anything. We just wanted to familiarize ourselves with the area, and get some photos for documentary purposes. We visited the cemetery too, which was very well kept. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Bell County, with the oldest known grave dating back to 1863.

We headed back to Maxdale after dark, at approximately 10:00 PM. Our first stop was to Nevaeh’s friend’s memorial marker, a cross by the side of the road, past the new Maxdale Bridge. She cleaned up the area, and left some flowers. Grace suggested that I take some photos. Nevaeh said she felt peace there. I wouldn’t say I felt peaceful, but I was surprisingly at ease, considering how easy it is sometimes for my imagination to get the better of me, especially as this was our first investigation of this sort. These photos later showed some interesting phenomena, which we believe may be orbs. The night was clear and clean, and the camera lens was clean.

After visiting the memorial, we went back to the bridge. According to the tales, if you drive onto the bridge, turn off your headlights and count to ten, and turn your headlights back on, you will see a man hanging from a noose. This sounded like a fable to us, and in fact when we tried this, we saw nothing. We have also been told that it’s not a man that you see hanging from a noose, but a woman who was hanged from the bridge by her lover. In any event, we didn’t see a man or a woman. Of course, the bridge being blocked, we were not able to drive onto it properly, but we drove as close as we could, and we expect the results would have been the same regardless.

We took some night photos at the bridge. The headlights interfered with getting good photos, so we will have to try again another night, but there was an interesting thing that showed up in one of the photos. Nevaeh and I walked onto the bridge, but were worried about our physical safety and didn’t want to risk trying to cross in the dark. We were gazing across to the far side of the bridge when Nevaeh said out that she saw lights, and asked me if I saw them. I didn’t. She said they were right in front of us, at the far end of the bridge. After looking for a second I did see three small red glowing objects toward the ground. I think they might have been animals, but Nevaeh saw them longer and more clearly than I did and said they blinked on and off in unison.

At this point, Grace, who had stayed by the car several yards behind us, called to us to come back. A car had slowed and turned onto the road leading to the bridge and was coming toward us. Maxdale Bridge is commonly known as being haunted, and therefore an attraction for local teenagers. This turned out to be a car full. We had originally planned on going to the cemetery and shooting some photos, but not wanting our findings to be influenced by any practical jokers, we decided to call it a night.

Photos:

Click each thumbnail to view the full size image. The color photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 8700 and the black and white photos were taken with a Minolta point and shoot film camera.

Maxdale Bridge from FM 2670. Across the bridge is the cemetery.	Wooden planks that make up the surface of the bridge.	View looking back toward FM 2670.
View looking back toward FM 2670.	Maxdale Cemetery entrance.	Maxdale Cemetery
Maxdale Cemetery	Maxdale Baptist Church. To the left of the church is the cemetery.	By the Maxdale Bridge. The headlights and camera shake create weird lighting.
A lightened version of the previous image. Some members think the red light next to Nevaeh's hand is interesting, but the lighting and blur make it impossible to tell.	A view looking toward Maxdale Bridge from the cemetery entrance. A very bright orb appears in this photo.	Entrance to Maxdale Cemetery. Several bright orbs are floating about.
Maxdale Cemetery sign. What could be several orbs are floating high above.s	Maxdale Cemetery at night. Possibly a small orb below the sign.	Maxdale Cemetery at night. The orb has moved.
Maxdale Cemetery at night. A possible orb in the tree.	View looking toward the cemetery from Maxdale Road (in front of the bridge.) A very bright orb appears.	Maxdale cemetery at night. The bottom left corner appears slightly bright and misty.
The previous image lightened. The corner is definitely misty.	An image taken a few seconds later. The bright mist is much more prominent. The photographer did not see anything when shooting the photo.	The previous image lightened. We are not aware of anything that would have caused the flash to glare at that spot, but it will definitely be investigated.
Maxdale Baptist at night. Several orbs appear to be floating about.	Maxdale Baptist at night. Several orbs appear.	Maxdale Baptist at night. Several orbs.
Field next to Maxdale Baptist. Several orbs appear. Note that the small white object casting a shadow appears to be a moth. None of the circular orbs cast shadows.	Memorial marker on FM 2670. This is where Nevaeh's friend died.	The previous image lightened. Perhaps two orbs on the right edge.
Memorial marker.	Previous image lightened. No orbs appear in this image.	Memorial marker.
Previous image lightened. Several orb-like bodies appear.	Memorial marker.	Previous image lightened. Maybe a couple of orbs are seen.
Memorial marker.	Memorial marker. Unknown grey/black mist covers left third of image.	Memorial marker.
Wolfridge Road between cemetery and bridge. Possible orb.	Wolfridge Road. The two bottom lights are the headlights of an approaching car.	Wolfridge Road. Possible orbs.