Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA Faulkner County Burial Ground with a Storied Oak
Vilonia, AR
Research updated May 2026
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Free public cemetery
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Unmaintained grounds, uneven terrain
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Historic Cemetery · Faulkner County History
Cypress Valley Cemetery sits just south of Vilonia in Faulkner County, serving as a burial ground for generations of families in the rural community that developed in this part of the Arkansas River Valley. Arkansas Gravestones, which documents the state's cemeteries for preservation purposes, has recorded burials at Cypress Valley with dates extending into the 19th century.
Vilonia itself is a small community in Faulkner County that has weathered a history shaped by agriculture and the occasional severe weather — the area has been struck by tornadoes that caused significant casualties and destruction in the 21st century. The cemetery predates these events and carries the longer history of the families who settled and farmed this part of central Arkansas.
A large oak tree stands at the center of the cemetery, its trunk marked by a prominent natural formation — a large knot or burl in the wood — that has become the focal point of the location's paranormal accounts.
Vilonia developed in the late 19th century as a small agricultural community on the central Arkansas plains, weathering events including the 2014 EF4 tornado that struck the area. Cypress Valley Cemetery predates these modern events and reflects the longer settlement history of Faulkner County, formed in 1873 from portions of Conway and Pulaski counties. The grounds occupy a quiet rural setting, and the central oak tree noted in paranormal accounts is a mature specimen whose trunk bears a prominent natural burl.
Sources
The central account at Cypress Valley Cemetery involves the oak tree. The tree stands at the approximate center of the cemetery, and its trunk carries a prominent knot — a natural formation that in certain light conditions creates a distinctive shape in the bark.
Visitors who park across the road and look toward the tree at night report seeing additional shapes above and around the knot: forms described in the accounts as resembling a cloaked or hooded figure, and lights — orbs — visible moving through the upper branches. The reports specify that these phenomena are visible at a distance, from the road, rather than requiring entry into the cemetery.
The account structure is classic roadside folklore: park here, face that direction, see this thing. The specificity about the knot as an anchor for the visual phenomenon suggests that natural pareidolia — the brain's tendency to find faces and figures in complex natural patterns — may contribute to at least some of the reported shapes. The orb lights are a separate category of claim.
No investigation records specific to Cypress Valley Cemetery were located in available sources.
The accounts describe a phenomenon visible from the public road across from the cemetery rather than requiring entry. Natural pareidolia — the brain's tendency to find faces and figures in complex bark patterns — likely contributes to the cloaked-figure reports around the burl. The orb-light claims sit in a separate category and are not corroborated by any formal investigation record. No paranormal team has published findings specific to Cypress Valley Cemetery.
Visit Cypress Valley Cemetery just south of Vilonia to walk the grounds and locate the large oak tree at the cemetery's center — the focal point for accounts of unusual lights and visual phenomena. Best visited after dark for those interested in the light anomaly reports, though daytime visits are appropriate for cemetery history and grave documentation.
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