For what it is worth, the old Cooper River Bridge itself suffered a tragedy when it had 240 feet taken out by the freighter Nicaragua Victory in February 1946, with one car going off the bridge:
Ghosts
Chilling encounters may continue long after bridge is gone
BY KATIE AVON MILLER, Of The Post and Courier Staff
Shortly after the new Cooper River bridge opens, both of the old bridges will come down. But what about the spirits that dwell on them? Will they vanish or relocate and haunt the new bridge?
On Feb. 24, 1946, the Nicaragua Victory was anchored upstream from the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge. The engines were shut down as the 12,000-ton freighter awaited repairs from an earlier accident. A thunderstorm began to rattle the ship. The night officer ordered the anchor chains loosened; instead, the anchors were accidentally yanked out of the mud. The freighter drifted downstream, picking up speed as it moved toward the bridge. With the engines shut down, steering or stopping was impossible.
On the bridge at this time were two cars and an Army mail truck. The ship struck the bridge, but the span didn't fall right away. The first car made it safely to Charleston. The driver of the mail truck leapt from his vehicle and ran back down the bridge. The Lawson family was not so lucky. When the Grace Bridge began to fall, the family's dark-green 1940 Oldsmobile had just reached the highest point of the bridge. Elmer Lawson was driving. His wife, Evelyn, was in the passenger seat. His son, Robert, daughter, Diane, and mother, Mrs. Elmer R Lawson, were in the back seat. An onlooker said that Mr. Lawson stopped the car, then began to drive, obviously unsure of what to do. The green sedan plunged 150 feet into the cold water of the Cooper River. It was not until March 19, 1946, that the car was discovered, with all five bodies still inside.
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