Local urban legends

[TeeDub]

Weren't there some stories about the old Indian cemetery in Sand Springs? 

The one surrounded by parking lot in front of Kmart or whatever it is now.

[Vision 2025]

My dad grew up in Joplin, and told me about those all the time. While he was sure they weren't really ghosts, he had no clue as to what they actually were. They would disappear as soon as you started to follow them, and re-appear behind you.

"Spook Light" is famous and being a Pittsburg KS graduate, rumor has it I was there more than a few times, sometimes you saw it and sometimes not... can't explain it but it was easier to see after a rain.

[Conan71]

I think Sparky's is officially called Washington Cemetery.  If I'm out that way soon I'll double-check. 

Those legends were very tall when I went to Jenks.  Many people reported apparitions when they would park there on Friday or Saturday nights.  I think it had far more to do with what they were drinking and smoking.  Back then, the turnpike was not there and 91st St. was a narrow, dark dead end road, and very creepy.  I remember thinking what an irony to see that "Dead End" sign adjacent to the Calvary Cemetery entrance.  They eventually changed it to a sign which read: "No Outlet".  It was still very rural-appearing until the early 1980's.  When we moved out that way in 1977 there were no houses south of 85th St. and the SE campus had not been built.  I think there was remnants of an old gas station on the NE corner back then and Frates had a horse farm off the NW corner.

[custosnox]

I remembered a couple more

East Central has several sub-levels, built during the cold war as a fallout shelter.  It is still stocked to this day.

East Central was originally built as a detention facility.

An empty water main runs between the Marina Apartments (or whatever they are called now) and Eastland mall large enough to walk through.

Divers making repairs on the Keystone damn encountered a catfish so large that a man could walk upright into it's mouth.  After the encounter, the divers quickly retreated from the water and refused to return.  Later the fish was caught.  It was so large that it had to be reeled in with a crane, and loaded onto a flatbed trailer to be hauled off.

[Hoss]

I remembered a couple more

East Central has several sub-levels, built during the cold war as a fallout shelter.  It is still stocked to this day.

East Central was originally built as a detention facility.

An empty water main runs between the Marina Apartments (or whatever they are called now) and Eastland mall large enough to walk through.

Divers making repairs on the Keystone damn encountered a catfish so large that a man could walk upright into it's mouth.  After the encounter, the divers quickly retreated from the water and refused to return.  Later the fish was caught.  It was so large that it had to be reeled in with a crane, and loaded onto a flatbed trailer to be hauled off.

I don't know that EC was built specifically as a fallout shelter.  But it had that designation when I was going to school there in 1982-1985...not surprising.  Building has no windows except on the industrial wing on the west side of the building by the old tennis courts.

[custosnox]

I don't know that EC was built specifically as a fallout shelter.  But it had that designation when I was going to school there in 1982-1985...not surprising.  Building has no windows except on the industrial wing on the west side of the building by the old tennis courts.

It still had the distinction when I went in the early 90's.  The part of it that always circulated was the "sublevels" that supposedly existed below the school.  Of course I crawled through more places in that school than anyone else I've ever known, and had a copy of the blueprints and still never found the supposed sublevels.

[Hoss]

It still had the distinction when I went in the early 90's.  The part of it that always circulated was the "sublevels" that supposedly existed below the school.  Of course I crawled through more places in that school than anyone else I've ever known, and had a copy of the blueprints and still never found the supposed sublevels.

The closest thing to a sublevel would have been the detached basement thing sort of underneath the gym.  Where I took drivers ed.  IIRC you could only access that part of the building from the outside door on the northeast side.

[dbacks fan]

For me, it was the old MA-HU Mansion. After Hugh Hodges died in early 1970, it was rumored that Mabel lived in the house by herself and died, and was found by a mail man after she had been dead for several days and her body was stuck to the floor.

Here is a picture of the back side of the house from the late 70's probably about 1978:



Another legend had that a structure on the SW corner of the property was a jail, but was actually a storage building for the farmer that lived on the property. It was near where the "Bull Pond" was. The pond was formed by an old stream bed that runs through the neighbor hood just west of it. If you drive down 26th court (my old street) 27th st and 27th court you can see the terrain that fed into the pond.

It says Univision on the link but it is in english:

http://www.univision.com/uv/video/Tulsa's-Ma-Hu-Mansion%3A-piece-for-KTUL-TV/id/658929066

And from Tulsa TV Memories:

http://tulsatvmemories.com/mahu.html

[custosnox]

The closest thing to a sublevel would have been the detached basement thing sort of underneath the gym.  Where I took drivers ed.  IIRC you could only access that part of the building from the outside door on the northeast side.

Under the gym was the locker rooms and pool.  Now there was another area located under the pool that held the pumps and piping that you could access through a door just outside the boys lockerroom.  Interestingly enough, this also was connected to the area below the grating at the smoke hole by a door. 

[Conan71]

For me, it was the old MA-HU Mansion. After Hugh Hodges died in early 1970, it was rumored that Mabel lived in the house by herself and died, and was found by a mail man after she had been dead for several days and her body was stuck to the floor.

Here is a picture of the back side of the house from the late 70's probably about 1978:



Another legend had that a structure on the SW corner of the property was a jail, but was actually a storage building for the farmer that lived on the property. It was near where the "Bull Pond" was. The pond was formed by an old stream bed that runs through the neighbor hood just west of it. If you drive down 26th court (my old street) 27th st and 27th court you can see the terrain that fed into the pond.

It says Univision on the link but it is in english:

http://www.univision.com/uv/video/Tulsa's-Ma-Hu-Mansion%3A-piece-for-KTUL-TV/id/658929066

And from Tulsa TV Memories:

http://tulsatvmemories.com/mahu.html

I went to a Halloween haunted house there around 1975 or 1976.

[DolfanBob]

I went to a Halloween haunted house there around 1975 or 1976.

Was that Scream in the Dark ?
I went too. You and I have a lot in Conan....lol

[dbacks fan]

Was that Scream in the Dark ?
I went too. You and I have a lot in Conan....lol

Yes it was Scream in the Dark. They had it there for three years, but several fires including a big one in 77 just destroyed the house. The last one we could actually hear from our house a couple of blocks away.

[custosnox]

Last time I was in the area the foundation and the low wall were still there. I had wondered at the time what they were from.  Now I know.

[dbacks fan]

Last time I was in the area the foundation and the low wall were still there. I had wondered at the time what they were from.  Now I know.

If you look at it on Google Earth you will see a line of trees that for a backwards "L", that was about 20 feet from the landscape wall in front of the house.

For a few years people had carved out a moto cross track that they would ride their dirt bikes on in the field. It was pretty cool actually when you look at how the ground is stair stepped, hence the name Terrace Park. The one big hazard that was in the field was an abandoned well that was about 3 feet in diameter.

[Conan71]

So the Ma-Hu property itself is still vacant land?  I had no idea.  I just figured the whole area was built up now.