Wickery Bridge

Wickery Bridge is a bridge and road that leads in and out of Mystic Falls, Virginia. It was built in 1912See this behind the scenes photo from the wood of the white oak tree.
It is best known for being the site of the tragic deaths of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert when the slick roads caused them to inadvertently drive off the bridge and into the river below, where they both drowned. Their adopted daughter Elena was the only survivor of the accident. In a cruel twist of fate, she ultimately died at Wickery Bridge almost a year later when she and Matt Donovan were driving back into town and were run off the road in almost the exact same manner as before thanks to Rebekah Mikaelson. Unknown to her at the time, Elena died with vampire blood in her system, administered to her by Meredith Fell. She awoken in transtion and became a vampire. 
==History==
Wickery Bridge was the location of the tragic deaths of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert on May 23, 2009, after they lost control of their car and accidentally ran over the bridge, where their car was plunged into the water below. Stefan Salvatore was hunting in the Woods nearby when he heard the crash, so he rushed over to the river and tried to rescue them. Dr. Gilbert, who was the only one of the three occupants of the car who was still conscious, refused to let Stefan bring him to safety until his daughter Elena had been saved first. Stefan obliged the man's request and brought Elena to safety, during which time he realized that she bore an uncanny resemblance to Katherine Pierce, with whom he was in a relationship in 1864. When Stefan went back to rescue Elena's parents, he found that he was too late, and the two had already died before he could get there. After Stefan confessed this story to Elena in Bloodlines, Elena admitted that no one knew how she managed to survive the accident, because she was found on the bank of the river by the paramedics. In Blood Brothers, Elena revealed to Stefan that her parents were bringing her home after had blown off their family night to go to a party, where she was ultimately stranded by her friends. She also confessed that she still felt responsible for the fact that her parents had been on the road in the first place. According to John Gilbert, there was nothing paranormal or supernatural about how the Gilberts died, which is why Grayson's Gilbert ring didn't save him from drowning. This fact was later confirmed by Liz Forbes in Stay when she decided to re-investigate the case while she was still Sheriff, during which she learned that the accident was only caused by a series of unfortunate circumstances, including bad weather, closed highways, and hazardous road conditions.
In Our Town, Stefan gave Niklaus Mikaelson an ultimatum by kidnapping Elena, forcing her to drink his blood, and then threatening to kill her while he drove recklessly over the bridge, all with the intention of threatening to turn Elena into a vampire so Klaus could no longer use her blood to create more hybrids. Klaus finally folded, and agreed to his terms of removing his hybrids from Mystic Falls. Stefan then stopped the car on the bridge, where Elena yelled at him for trying to kill her where her parents died, and where she almost died herself, before walking home alone. 
In Break On Through, it was revealed that the white oak trees in Mystic Falls that were spawned from a sapling of the original white oak tree that magically gave the Original vampires their immortality were ultimately used to create the Wickery Bridge, and as a result, all of its wooden underpinnings could be used to kill the Originals. This information was gained after Sage, at Damon's urging, used her vampire telepathy to read Rebekah Mikaelson's thoughts and learn that Rebekah was concerned that there were more white oak trees that could kill her and her siblings. Damon then checked his family's ledgers and learned that the bridge contained the wood of the aforementioned trees, much to his dismay, as he had spent much of the day at Wickery Bridge for its renovation fundraiser, not realizing that the wood could be used as a weapon. However, before Damon could obtain any of the wood, Sage, not wanting her Original vampire lover Finn Mikaelson to die, teamed up with Rebekah and burned down the wooden underpinnings. However, Damon merely pretended to be enraged by this betrayal, as he knew that the original Wickery Bridge sign, which Alaric Saltzman was in charge of restoring, was also made of the same white oak wood, which they could use to fashion several stakes.
In The Departed, Elena and Matt Donovan were on their way home, after learning that Alaric was targeting the Originals, when crossed the bridge to get into town. Before they could make it across, they saw Rebekah—who intended to kill Alaric in retribution for him "killing" Klaus by killing Elena, whose life force was magically linked to his own—standing in the middle of the road. When Elena told Matt to watch out, he accidentally swerved his truck too hard and went off of the bridge and into the water below, mirroring when Elena originally wrecked with her parents in 2009. Just like the previous car accident, Stefan heard the commotion and jumped into the water to save her, but Elena, whose seatbelt was stuck, ordered Stefan to save Matt first, which he begrudgingly did. However, when Stefan came back for Elena, she was already dead, though they would not realize until later that Dr. Meredith Fell had given Elena Damon's vampire blood when she was taken to the hospital for a cerebral hemorrhage the night before.
In We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes, Elena, who was suffering from suicidal ideation as a result of triggering the Hunter's Curse, returned to the bridge with the intention of killing herself. While on the bridge, she was tormented with hallucinations of supernatural hunter Connor Jordan and her mother Miranda, and after her mother's hallucination convinced her that Jeremy was better off without a "monster" for a sister, Elena took off her daylight ring and waited for the sun to come up and end her suffering. Damon, guessing that Elena would return to the bridge because "the third time's the charm," managed to find her and talk her down until the curse was broken by Jeremy activating his legacy as a member of the Brotherhood of the Five. When the sun rose and began to burn Elena, Damon tackled her and forced them both to jump into the water, where Elena was ultimately knocked unconscious. While she was passed out, Damon fished out her ring and put it back on her to protect her from the sun.
In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Elena took Stefan here hoping to restore his memories after Qetsiyah fried his and Silas' brain. They've talked about their relationship and almost kissed.
In We Have History Together Sybil mentioned that Peter Maxwell threw the bell from the bridge in 1992.
==Accidents==
*Miranda Sommers-Gilbert: Died on May 23, 2009 with her husband, Grayson Gilbert.
*Grayson Gilbert: Died on May 23, 2009 with his wife, Miranda Gilbert.
*Elena Gilbert:
**Survived the car accident on May 23, 2009 that killed her parents. She was rescued by Stefan Salvatore.
**Drowned in her second accident caused by Rebekah Mikaelson.
*Matt Donovan: Survived the accident that caused Elena's death because she wanted Stefan to save him instead of her.
==Appearances==
===The Vampire Diaries===
Season Three
*Our Town
*Break On Through
*The Departed
Season Four
*We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes
Season Five
*For Whom the Bell Tolls
Season Six
*I'm Thinking Of You All The While (Elena's hallucinations)
Season Eight
*You Decided That I Was Worth Saving (Altered Memory)
===Legacies===
Season One
*We're Gonna Need A Spotlight
==Trivia==
* Jenna Sommers tells Frederick that the Salvatore Boarding House is located near Wickery Bridge.
* In the books, Elena Gilbert dies on the bridge because of Katherine von Swartzschild, while in The Departed, its caused by Rebekah.
* To Elena, the bridge symbolizes death, since her parents died there, and technically, so did she.
* Damon's memories of the recovery of Elena's parents were altered by Sybil, so they included Elena as a fatality.
==References==
==Gallery==
Truckwickery3x22.png
Stefansave3x22.png
Miranda3x22.png
Carbottomoftheriver3x22.png
Hmifirst3x22.png
Elenawakematt3x22.png
Elenamatt3x22.png
Grayson3. 1.png
Elena3. 1.png
6X22-53-ElenaMatt.png
6X22-54-ElenaMatt.png
6X22-96-MattElena.png
Wickerybts.jpg
==See also==
Category:The Vampire Diaries (series)
Category:Locations
Category:Community Location
it:Ponte Wickery