Starting in 2008 three annual Bell Witch Rides were done in October as a historical overview of Robertson County and of the legend of the Bell Witch.
. . Ride starts at Springfield's Greenway. We ride to Port Royal State Park, a thirty-four-acre site that preserves one of Middle Tennessee's earliest settlement areas. The first permanent settlers arrived in 1784. The town was incorporated in 1797, and during the nineteenth century it grew to a population of over twelve hundred.
. . In the fall of 1838 the Cherokee removal to Oklahoma, enforced by the Indian Removal Act of 1830, crossed the Red River at Port Royal. We ride on one of the Trail of Tears were 8 out of 11 detachments followed this scenic and nearly abandoned canopied road.
. . Listen closely. Some say they can hear the sounds of Cherokee anguish frozen in time.
. . By the mid 1800s, a principal stagecoach route had been located through Port Royal. This was for a time, the main route to the west from the southeast. Newspaper articles from the mid 1800s mention Port Royal being on the "Great Road to the West". A renovated Masonic Lodge (1859) is the park's headquarters and it has exhibits about Port Royal's significant role in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century river transportation.
. . The park also contains the historic Sulphur Fork Bridge, built in 1890. The original covered bridge at the park was constructed in 1903, but collapsed as workers removed its false support timbers. Rebuilt in 1904 it survived until 1972 when it fell into the river from deterioration. The State built a reproduction in 1978, but heavy rains and tornado-strength winds demolished a large portion of it on June 10, 1998.
  | From the State Park we ride to Adams and the Bell Witch Cave. Tennessee historian Goodspeed write in 1886,
A remarkable occurrence, which attracted wide-spread interest, was connected with the family of John Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the "Bell Witch."
This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful, and seemingly designed to annoy
the family.
It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary.
A volume might be written concerning the performances of this wonderful being, as they are now described by contemporaries and their descendants. That all this actually occurred will not be disputed, nor will a rational explanation be attempted. It is merely introduced as an example of superstition, strong in the minds of all but a few in those times, and not yet wholly extinct.
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| We waited for those who want to tour the Bell Witch Cave (costs $10). Be sure to bring tennis shoes, clipless bike shoes could be a problem. From here we ride back to Springfield. We'll ride back on a portion of the Greenway to where we parked the cars. Lunch is at the Depot Bar & Grill. (1/4 mile away) Tom Evans who has published historical analysis of the Bell Witch and appeared on Discovery Channel's "Mystery Hunters" is available to answer questions of those who want to know the facts about the Bell Witch. |  |