October 14, 2023
Pages 2787
Whole Number 131
VILLAGE OF SPARKS, NEBRASKA, SOLD
In the December 1954 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 8, our readers learned how the post office of Sparks, Nebraska, got its name from the Sparkses who had moved to that area from Berrien County, Michigan, ca. 1880. (A record of this branch of the Sparks family appeared in the Quarterly of March 1978, Whole No. 101, pages 1965-84, entitled: "Ancestors and Descendants of Cornelius Sparks, 1789-1862".)
In its heyday, Sparks was an unincorporated village in Cherry County ca. 18 miles northeast of Valentine with a population of about a dozen persons. We have learned from one of our members, Helen Sparks, of La Jolla, California, that last fall the only house left in the 100-year-old community was sold, along with ten acres of land. The entire village, composed of a general store, a post office, and two gasoline pumps, was bought by Lou Christiansen, a school teacher. He plans to use it as a base for a canoe trip and summer camp for people who want to camp on the nearby Niobrara River. Postal authorities have made no decision about the future of the post office.