Cauldron

Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: www.anomolyarchives.org Bragg Road, in Saratoga, Texas, has been the site of much alleged "ghostly" activity over the last 100 years. According to lagend, the mysterious lights are from the lantern of a long-dead railroad foreman.

If you find yourself in the mood for a quick road trip that is full of intrigue and possibly haunts, might I suggest visiting the tiny Texas town of Saratoga. Everybody loves a good mystery, and this place and its surrounding areas are full of them.

I grew up hearing stories from my parents about the "Saratoga Light" also referred to by many as the "Bragg Road Ghost Light." My father claims that he has witnessed this mysterious light before, and my strong sense of curiosity has prompted several visits to the "Ghost Road" over the years.

Located on a long stretch of dirt road, the strange light may appear and disappear at random times during night without explanation. Newspapers, as well as local television stations, have covered stories about this phenomenon in the past. Hundreds of people have claimed that they have seen the light and that the light has actually followed or entered their vehicle while travelling down the road at night.

As with all alleged paranormal activity, many people speculate about the authenticity of the light. Some people chalk it all up to natural occurrences, such as swamp gas or other emissions, but the most popular story surrounding the legend is much more interesting and full of fright.

It is said that a railroad worker was decapitated along the road in a railway accident (involving a falling axe) and that the light is the lantern his ghost holds as it endlessly searches for its head. Hearing this story as a child always frightened me, and the first time I travelled down that road in the dead of night, I was completely terrified.

Bragg Road is the site of the mysterious light and it is located between Beaumont and Houston, approximately 16 miles west of Kountze, Texas. The dirt road runs north to south between Farm-to-Market Road 787 and Farm-to-Market Road 1293.

As the legend indicates, the dirt road was once the path of a railroad which was installed by the Gulf, Colorado and Sante Fe Railway in the early 1900s to supply the new oil industry near Beaumont. Once the industry began to shift its shipping lanes, the company abandoned the railway in 1934 and subsequently, the tracks were removed the following year.

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