Asheville Author Joshua P. Warren, who wrote Haunted Asheville, and Historian Vance Pollock both seem to agree that the only confirmed death that happened near Helen's Bridge and Zealandia Castle was a workman employed by Phillip S. Henry. This death was confirmed in the Asheville Gazette on May 6, 1906.
Pollock believes that the "Helen" could possibly be Helen Clevenger, who was murdered in 1936. She was a 19 year old college student that was shot and beaten to death and her body was left in Battery Park Hotel.
Author Thomas Wolfe mentions the bridge several times in his seminal work Look Homeward Angel that was published in 1929. I do not know what name Wolfe uses to reference the bridge and one of the characters in his book is named, Helen. The book also pre dates the Clevenger murder.
I agree with author Sarah Harrison of the Asheville Paranormal Society that Helen's Mountain and Helen's Bridge are a combination of the two legends. My belief is that Helen's Mountain is the country version and Helen's Bridge is the Urban legend.
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