Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA rural bridge on Yarrell Creek Road outside Williamston, North Carolina, where generations of locals have told of a mill owner who drowned his wife in the creek below, and where visitors claim to hear screams near midnight.
Yarrell Creek Road (at the Yarrell Creek crossing), Williamston, NC 27892
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public rural bridge and roadway lined with private property. No admission; do not trespass on adjacent land or block the road.
Access
Limited Access
Rural paved road and bridge with no pedestrian facilities
Equipment
Photos OK
Long-standing Martin County roadside legend, traced by locals to the 1940s-50s · Featured in regional TV coverage and collected in 'Ghosts and Witches of Martin County' · No archival record found confirming an actual drowning or murder at the site
The Screaming Bridge spans Yarrell Creek along Yarrell Creek Road in the farmland just outside Williamston, the seat of Martin County in eastern North Carolina. The bridge is an ordinary rural crossing rather than a historic landmark, and its fame is entirely a product of folklore that local storytellers trace back to at least the 1940s and 1950s.
The area around Williamston has a rich tradition of told-and-retold ghost stories, collected in local works such as 'Ghosts and Witches of Martin County.' The Screaming Bridge is among the best known of these, and it has been featured in regional television coverage and travel writing as one of eastern North Carolina's signature roadside legends.
Despite the legend's longevity, HauntBound found no contemporaneous newspaper account, court record, or other documentation confirming an actual drowning or murder at the bridge. The history here is essentially the history of the story itself, passed down through generations of Martin County residents.
Sources
Local lore tells that a mill owner remembered by the name Yarrell decided to be rid of his wife, dragged her to the bridge, tied a millstone (or mill block) around her neck, and threw her into Yarrell Creek below. Generations of Williamston youth have repeated the story, claiming that near midnight you can hear the woman's blood-curdling screams from the bridge. A second, gentler version of the legend holds instead that a young girl of the Yarrell family drowned in the creek beneath the original bridge. Both versions are folklore, and HauntBound presents the Yarrell name only as the legend records it, with no surviving documentation tying it to a specific real person or event.
Notably, the anonymous folklore submission that circulates for Williamston offers a very different and apparently garbled tale, of a woman in a cat costume leaving a Halloween party who runs off a bridge while tuning her radio. HauntBound found no support for that version and does not repeat it; the locally documented legend is the Yarrell drowning story above.
The Screaming Bridge has been covered by regional television and travel media and is a fixture of Martin County ghost lore, which is why it is presented here. But because the underlying event remains unverified folklore rather than documented history, readers should treat the murder details as legend rather than established fact.
Notable Entities
The Screaming Bridge is a local legend spot on Yarrell Creek Road outside Williamston, popular with teenagers and ghost-story seekers, especially around Halloween. With no facilities or parking, it is best experienced as a respectful drive-by.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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