Southern Mysteries Podcast

Episode 199 The Devil's Road: The Ghost Town of Rocky Springs

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Show Notes

Once a thriving community along the Natchez Trace, Rocky Springs, Mississippi, has nearly vanished into the woods. An old brick church, a cemetery, and a handful of remnants are all that remain of a town once home to thousands. In Part Three of The Devil's Road, Southern Mysteries explores the forgotten history and haunting legends of one of Mississippi's most intriguing ghost towns. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected] Episode Sources

National Park Service. Rocky Springs Town Site. Natchez Trace Parkway. National Park Service. Civil War: Rocky Springs Area. Natchez Trace Parkway. National Park Service. Hiking the Rocky Springs Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. Historic American Buildings Survey. Rocky Springs Park, Mission 66 Structures. HABS No. MS-291. Historical Marker Database. The Town of Rocky Springs Historical Marker. Mississippi Genealogy and History Network. Rocky Springs Historic Cemetery. Claiborne County, Mississippi. Mississippi State University Extension Service. Rocky Springs, MS. Bug's Eye View, Vol. 2, No. 27, 2016. John Y. Simon, editor. The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 8: April 1–July 6, 1863. Southern Illinois University Press, 1979. U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Volume XXIV. Mississippi State University Libraries. Orville Elias Babcock Diaries. Emilye Crosby. A Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi. University of North Carolina Press, 2005. J. L. Power. The Epidemic of 1878 in Mississippi: Report of the Yellow Fever Relief Work. 1879. Mississippi Encyclopedia. “Yellow Fever.” The Richmond Planet. “Horrible Crimes.” May 12, 1894. Equal Justice Initiative. Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror. Mississippi Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. 2010 Conference Journal. Alan Huffman. “Finis.” April 18, 2010. Karen Steele. “Learning from the Grandmothers: Sarah.” Karen Steele. “Learning from the Grandmothers: Joan.”

Episode Music Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

More from Southern Mysteries Podcast

Oct 12, 2026

In the early 1800s, travelers carrying money north from Natchez became targets for highway robbers along the isolated Natchez Trace.In Part Two of The Devil’s Road, Southern Mysteries follows Samuel Mason and Joseph Thompson Hare, two notorious land pirates whose robberies, violence and encounters with the law helped shape the road’s dangerous reputation. Mason’s story ends in mystery, while Hare’s own confession reveals how he preyed on unsuspecting travelers. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected] Episode Sources

Oct 5, 2026

Today, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a peaceful road through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. But the old Trace was once known as the Devil’s Backbone, a dangerous route marked by robbery, murder and stories that became legend. In The Devil’s Road, a four-part October series, Southern Mysteries explores the darker history and folklore of the Natchez Trace. Part One begins at ancient Native American mound sites along the route and at Pharr Mounds in northern Mississippi, where a brutal murder in 1992 brought a much more recent story to this ancient landscape. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected] Episode Sources

Sep 21, 2026

In February 1972, Bryce, Virginia and Bobby Durham were found murdered in their Boone, North Carolina, home during a heavy snowstorm. Within months, four men were charged and two were eventually indicted for murder, but the case against them collapsed. Nearly fifty years later, a story remembered by the son of a Georgia criminal led investigators to four entirely different men and an unexpected explanation for what happened that night. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected] Episode Sources

Sep 7, 2026

In this updated and remastered Southern Mysteries Classic, we revisit the strange disappearance of Connie Franklin and the mystery of the man who returned from the dead. In 1929, five men in Stone County, Arkansas, were charged with the murder of Franklin, a drifter who had vanished from the Ozarks. A teenage girl said he had been brutally attacked and his body burned in the woods, and investigators believed they had found his charred remains. Then, just days before the murder trial began, a man appeared claiming to be Connie Franklin. The bizarre case drew reporters from across the country and became known as the Arkansas Ghost Trial. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected] Episode Sources

Aug 24, 2026

In April 1963, civil rights activist William Lewis Moore set out alone on a 320-mile walk from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, carrying a letter for segregationist Gov. Ross Barnett. On April 23, the 35-year-old postal worker was found shot to death in northeast Alabama.In this episode of Southern Mysteries, we explore Moore's life beyond his final walk, the family he left behind, the threats and warnings he encountered along the road, the investigation into his killing, and the questions that remain more than 60 years later. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected] Episode Sources

See all episodes →