An 1886 family cemetery on private land outside Sand Springs, locally nicknamed 'Sparky's Graveyard,' where visitors report moving balls of light in the grounds and woods behind, plus sudden warm and cold spots.
S 137th West Ave (quarter-mile north of W 41st St), Sand Springs, OK 74063
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The cemetery sits on private property just outside Sand Springs city limits (land owned by Lyntab 3 LP). It is not a public park - visit only with respect and do not trespass after dark.
Access
Limited Access
Small rural cemetery on private land off South 137th West Avenue; gravel access, uneven turf, wooded area behind.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1886 · Established 1886; among the oldest cemeteries in the Sand Springs area · Named for the Postoak family; Phoebe Postoak (d. 1886, age 15) believed to be the first burial · Holds roughly 143 marked graves, most recent in 1998 · Documented by Sandite Pride News and featured in Tulsa World's 'Haunted Sand Springs'
Postoak Cemetery lies on private property a short distance outside the Sand Springs city limits in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, a quarter-mile north of West 41st Street on South 137th West Avenue. A wooden sign at the entrance reads 'Postoak Cemetery Est. 1886,' making it one of the oldest sites in the Sand Springs area.
The cemetery takes its name from the Postoak family. Phoebe Postoak, who died on November 22, 1886, at the age of fifteen, is believed to be the first person laid to rest there; according to local cemetery records her parents, Taylor and Molea Postoak, lived on the property at the time. Taylor Postoak died in 1891, and Mariah 'Molea' Fisher Postoak died in 1907; both are buried in the cemetery. By some accounts the burial ground also grew when another local family, the Howards, sought a grave for a young daughter around 1889.
The cemetery holds roughly 143 marked graves. Local research notes that the oldest resident was Leona Frances Horton (1872-1970, age 98), that burials peaked in the 1930s, and that the most recent burial took place in 1998. Today the land is owned by a holding company, Lyntab 3 LP, run by Dr. Tom and Sue Lynn Warren, and the cemetery remains private property rather than a public park.
The site's history and the 'Sparky's Graveyard' folklore have been documented by the local outlet Sandite Pride News and were included in a Tulsa World feature on 'Haunted Sand Springs,' alongside genealogical records on Find a Grave and BillionGraves.
Sources
In Sand Springs folklore Postoak Cemetery is better known as 'Sparky's Graveyard,' a nickname it shares with several other Oklahoma cemeteries. The central story, recorded by Sandite Pride News and Scary HQ, is of mysterious balls of light: orbs that visitors describe moving about the cemetery and drifting in the wooded area behind it, most often reported at night. Witnesses also describe pockets of sudden warmth and sudden cold across the grounds.
Local legend ties the nickname to a figure called 'Sparky,' said to have been an old caretaker of the cemetery who died mysteriously and was buried among the graves; one version claims a plot at the back of the cemetery is always found with fresh dirt on top. As reporting on the site notes, the 'Sparky' name and the moving-lights motif are common to multiple cemeteries statewide, which suggests the legend is a traveling piece of folklore rather than a story unique to this ground.
We present these as the local tradition attached to a real historic cemetery. Because the cemetery is private property just outside the city limits, the responsible way to engage with the folklore is by respectful daylight visit, not after-dark trespass. The verified substance here is the 1886 Postoak family cemetery and the people buried in it; the moving lights are the folklore that has grown up around it.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-guided daylight visit to the 1886 Postoak family cemetery to see its oldest graves. Respect the private property and the resting place; the 'Sparky's Graveyard' light folklore is best left to daytime curiosity rather than after-dark trespass.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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