The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Alright folks, I rarely post on here (see profile) but I'm hoping some of you can humor me. I want to hear any and all urban legends you have heard about over the years in the Tulsa area. I'll throw in my two cents where applicable.

There are some "crybaby bridges" around here.

Yeah, atleast 5 haha. The main one is in Kellyville where a major train wreck happened and killed 27 poeple in 1917. 

Fox 23 did one last night on their broadcast in Bartlesville.
It is a hill that when you put your car in neutral. It will start rolling up the hill toward a Railroad track. Supposed to be a ghost of a Woman that died on the tracks when her car stalled and was hit by a train. So now she is pushing other cars to the tracks to cause the same fate. Pretty cool huh ?

I love those kinds of optical illusions. It's sort of like if you're sitting at a stop light and another car rolls a bit forward it's easy to think you might think you're rolling back if you're driving stick.

There's Bulldog Mansion off of Old North Road in Sand Springs. Supposedly the "Bulldog Man" that lived there would chase people away who were driving on the roads at night or teenagers that were parked there. I know there is more to the story, but for the life of me I can't remember it. Maybe someone from Sand Springs can fill in the holes.

Know several.... One is that the reason the old sidewalks in downtown sparkle and shimmer is because they had diamonds in them.  The story I heard was that some robbers had snagged a bag of diamonds and the cops spotted them and gave chase, the robbers threw the bag of diamonds into a cement mixer to hide them. Workers came back and started making cement and viola,,, sparkly sidewalks.  ;D

  Truth is... its mica.  They put mica in the cement.  Not many sections of that old sidewalk left. But I remember "back in the day" when the sun was shining, those old sidewalks were absolutely beautiful.

had someone take me to that one.  She got really mad at me when I pulled out a keychain and held it up, using it as a pendalum, showing that we were actually rolling downhill, dispite the appearance of uphill due to the difference of grade of the roadside.

One that has had several chasing down old records with still nothing solid one direction or another (maybe shadows will remember something and add to it) is of a subway was supposedly being built, but had been cancelled after only a small portion of it was completed.  The rumors say that differant people claim to have found the old station while exploring the storm sewers.  Several problems with that, but I'll degress back to the Urban Legends.

Another interesting one is that of "sparkeys graveyard".  While I have never gone to the sight, and can't even recall where it is supposed to be, the story goes that there is an albino caretaker that watches over the graveyard.  Stories tell of people that have approached, or entered, the graveyard only to be be chased off by the albino, usually carrying some exagerated weapon of some kind or another. 

Catoosa has a ghost of a boy that walks (or rides a bike) down the highway where he was ran over and killed many years ago.  Some stories include him taking a ride from people (the old hitchhiker ghost UL) and others even include that the local cops have seen him and mention him in reports.

Closer to MO there are spirit balls, balls of light that are seen from a distance and float around irraticly.

Old school at 15th and Peoria had a kid fall out a window and die, now his ghost is seen there by the people occupying the building, apparantly outside some doors that lead to a roof/balcony area that are always locked.

Gilgrease museum has a hard time holding onto night security guards because Gilgrease himself still roams the halls.  Also is commonly reported in the Gilgrease mansion.

Blacks were herded into the basement of the Brady Theater during the race riots and subsequently killed. 

Bodies of blacks were "disposed of" down an old mine shaft vent near expo square after the race riots.

The brick drive to the mansion that is now occupied by the Garden Center was built by hand by the owners sons as a lesson in hard work.

Okay, I'll stop now.  I might think of some more later, but most of what come to mind right now are ghost stories.

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.

I saw something recently about a similar phenomenon in the east.  One of the researchers showed an example of "plasma balls" that really made since as to an explanation.

**juvenile snicker**

Sorry, could not resist that..

lol gives new meaning to "Great balls of fire"

My best friend was from Neosho and he also told me about the "Spook Light" tale.
Urban legend as he was told. That it is the spirit of a dead miner walking the road with a lantern returning to work every evening.
Here is a link to a story about it.http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2006/09/joplin-spooklight.html

Spook lights.  I knew there was a more common term for the MO area ones, but couldn't remember em.  Yet I can always remember the Marfa Lights.

I've heard about that one too. I think he was an orphan and found his way into a brick plant as a kid. The workers took a liking to him and he later on got a job at this brick plant (norther Sand Springs, but its gone now). Apparently there was an accident and  where a bunch of bricks toppled him. His face got severely disfigured as a result of it and was nicknamed the "Bulldog Man".



South of the building on the North West corner of 6th and Cincinnati, are some of them sparkly sidewalks  ;)



Yeah, I've physically hunted for that blasted subway, gone miles in countless tunnels, even got the offical, current, and detailed storm sewer maps that the city uses. I have yet to find any evidence of such a subway or station. I'd like to talk to the people who claimed to have found it! PLEASE for the love of God someone give me some additional info on this subway before I start digging with a shovel in suspected areas.

As for sparkys, well from what I have learned, its the cemetary at 91st just east of harvard. Its a very old African American cemetary.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p309/kallsop2/MAHU.jpg)

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 (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 (http://tulsatvmemories.com/mahu.html)

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. 

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

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.

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p309/kallsop2/MA-HU.jpg)

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.

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

That area will remain vacant. It was written into the original purchase agreement that the area would be a buffer between what was developed and the existing neighborhood. That's what was part of the reason the land sat vacant so long. All of the original developers wanted to run a street connecting my neighborhood to Memorial at the light at 27th. IIRC The neighborhood took it all the way to COT planning and development and the commisioners to prevent the street from being built.

Is Johansen Acres directly to the north or something else inbetween?  I love Johansen for the ranch homes and giant lots.

Primarily north but the area to the west is also part of it. My dad always complained about the fact that the homes on 24th and 25th did not have storm drains in the streets and the way the land lays out it runs down hill from the MacArthur/Whitney area south east to where the pond was and then runs behind the houses on 28th street to the north side of I-44 and Memorial. The flooding in 74, and the big flood in 84 was proof of that. I think before all of that was developed it ran from I-44 and Memorial down past Skelly Jr High, and eventually into Mingo Creek north of 31st where it crosses Mingo Creek.

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p309/kallsop2/31stMemorial2.jpg)

Everything north, south and west drains down to 31st and Memorial and then heads east to Mingo Creek.

31st and Memorial the morning after the Memorial Day flood in 1984:

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p309/kallsop2/Scan0006.jpg)

Heavens, that brings back some memories.  My cousin and I were out and about during that thing, and he lived at 36th/Memorial at the time.  We got out about 1am and couldn't get back to his house from west of that intersection, so we took the Skelly to the BA and got off at the Memorial exit.  Stayed in the rest of the night, watched Gary Shore talk about 'backbuilding' all night long.  My dad's truck used to be in some of the old KJRH spots after that, when they would show his truck flooded out with a hardhat floating inside of the cab.  He was working at Sunoco Refinery at the time.

This is the only other pic of mine I have acces to from that day, it's the QT that was at 7th and Sheridan.

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p309/kallsop2/Scan0005.jpg)

The clock in the back i can sort of make out, it was either 2:15am or 3:10am when it stopped.

And now. I know at one time it was the Palmer Drug Abuse Program.

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p309/kallsop2/QT7Sheridan.jpg)

Wow, I totally forgot that QT was at 7th/Sheridan.

I wasn't with my parents (I had just turned 17 when the flood happened) and our house is my current house (the one just behind Vegas Club about three blocks).  Missed water coming in the front door by about 1 inch or less.  I remember them the following years dredging up Mingo Creek to widen it for the flood mitigation.

Does anyone remember the story about a worker getting their finger cut off at the Bama Pie plant?

As the story goes, supposedly the finger was never found and was suspected of going into one of the small pies. Pecan, I think?

I would never eat those little Bama Pies in the school cafeteria due to this story.

Is there any validity to this urban legend?

Good way to get back on topic. I remember that one, but I can't remember if it was true or not.

Here is a link to th website with the person who could solve this urban legend. CEO of Bama Pies, Paula Marshall.(Wonder if theres a connection to Marshall's Beer?)

http://paulaamarshallblog.squarespace.com/ (http://paulaamarshallblog.squarespace.com/)

Nothing like the "entrepreneurism" of inheriting the family business.

This is a great thread.  As a non-native, it's a good way to learn the local folklore and find some interesting places to check out.

This is a very cool thread.  I am very much interested in local history, and I appreciate alot of the info that has been shared here.  

Does anyone have any info regarding the property west of Yale starting about a block south of 68th street that continues South to the business park, and goes west for 4-5 blocks?  It's easily visable as a large wooded area on Google earth.   There is a long ago abandoned  rock gate to the property on Yale (west side).  I remember my Dad taking me there some 20 years ago and there was the remains of very large house (mansion?) at that time (mid-late 1980's).

Does anyone have any more info about the history of this property?

Just because someone inherits something doesn't necessarily make them incapable of running a business successfully.  Would you have rather had Bama shut down and sold off for pieces?  That could have been an option.

Oh, excuse me.  I forgot there are people that think that a person should have no say in the fruits of their life's labor after they pass on.

Come on guys, no need to start bickering on this thread.  It's been going good, no need to let it disintegrate.

everelusive, give it a bit, I'm sure someone will be able to tell you something. 

Sorry about that.

So I emailed Eric Marshall to see if he was related, and I loved his response. He asked me if I was related to Ted Nugent. So no connection.

Got a taste of the the Marshall sense of humor, eh?  I'd wondered at first a few years back, must be a yeast connection along with the last name.

What is it about Nugent all the sudden.  I was in Waco yesterday and remembered the Nuge has a ranch down there, then on the way back this morning I heard the ad for his show at the Cain's, now this.

It took me a moment when I first read it, and then got it. Made me laugh.

That's three Nuge references in a short period of time, and you know what they say about three's.

that their more then two's and less than four's?

a good list of oklahoma UL's
http://theshadowlands.net/places/oklahoma.htm

The Tulsa Little Theater (15th and Delaware) is supposed to be haunted.  (People who worked for Theatre Tulsa back in the 80's swore to this.)

Also, there's some story about the "elevated" parking lot on 21st between Boston and Main.  (Used to be the Shriner's parking lot).  The rumor had something to do with an old mansion and its haunted basement or something, and when they tore down the mansion, they just filled in the basement.  Thus, the parking lot is higher than the street.  (I can't remember this one exactly...but someone on this forum will know.)

We promoted a show with Southern Culture On The Skids and Billy Joe Winghead there about three or four years ago.  I heard and saw all sorts of strange smile after the show, but I don't think it had anything to do with the place being haunted.  ::)