In the previous semester, the Cryptids of the South covered the Flintville Monster and, to my surprise, during the summer I received an email from Principal David Golden regarding the lore of the area. He spoke of the Flintville Monster, Bigfoot sightings and their very own Flintville light, all of which I will touch on.
According to Golden, the last time the Flintville Monster was seen, it was off Teal Hollow Road. It’s described as an albino bigfoot and many residents claim to still hear it screaming at night. He told me that he had done wood knocks, but never got a response, and I asked him what that was, having never heard of it before. He had seen it on ghost hunting shows, where they would hit a tree with a stick and if there was something in the area, it was supposed to knock back. He’s heard other animals and knows that the area has bobcats and coyotes, but says the monsters in the area sound nothing like those animals. Many of his friends who have hunting spots around the area have said they’ve had experiences with local legends.
The most recent accounts come from the ’80s and ’90s within a two-mile radius of Teal Hollow Road. Golden told me that he and his brother had seen a white figure by the hills when they were younger, but when they went to get a closer look, it was gone. However, there was a family nearby. When the brothers asked after the creature, the family told them that they hadn’t seen anything. But both brothers had been several hundred yards away and had gotten a decent view of it, which he gathered must mean that it was “pretty big”. Among other legends, Bigfoot is often mentioned and Flintville is actually listed as the location of a sighting in the National Bigfoot Association as number 6638.
Golden told me, “You hear stories around Tim Ford Lake in Lynchburg… If there was gonna be an environment that could support something else, you know it would be there.” Given the vast amount of wilderness and mystery, one could easily imagine a creature of the night disappearing as it wishes.
However, according to Golden, Flintville is most known for the Flintville Lights, which I think was the most intriguing lore to learn about. Between the ’50s and ’70s, there were train tracks behind the school where Principal Golden works. The train tracks were later pulled up in the ’80s. People often saw a light moving about. High school students would even chase the light. No one knew what it was for sure, but it was said to be a train passenger (or possibly a worker) who fell out and lost their arm on the tracks. The apparition wanders where the tracks used to be with lantern in one hand, looking for the other.
A possible scientific reason for the light is called Foxfire, a natural gas possibly would come up through the ground where the rail trestles were. When the moon hit it the gas just right, light appeared. When the tracks were pulled up, the lights stopped. Maybe it was the gas. Or maybe he finally found what he was looking for.
