Sparks is an unincorporated community in Cherry County, Nebraska, United States. Its elevation is 2,602 feet (793 m). Sparks has a post office with the ZIP code 69220. Businesses in the village include an outfitting company, Dryland Aquatics, that has served visitors to the nearby Niobrara River since 1980, Sparks Store, which houses the post office and Dryland Aquatics, and the Sparks Museum of History. Smith Falls is south west of Sparks. History Sparks was named for Eldon and Joseph A. Sparks, who purchased the land from the original pioneer James Hudson, who arrived in March 1884 and filed a Homestead Entry. He commuted this to a preemption (paid $200) and sold it to the Sparks brothers on October 5, 1887 for $1000. The Sparks brothers, Valentine bankers, were speculating in land believing a rail line would eventually run northeast from Valentine, which never took place. Prior to their purchase, the area was known as the Hudson corner, for the extended family of James Hudson, who had homesteads nearby. From the Democratic Blade of December 8, 1887: "John Hudson, G.H. Sawyer and Mr.Brewer were in town to-day as a committee to make arrangements about having a new town platted on the table near James Hudson. The new town is to be called Sparks and Harry Holsclaw will survey and plat it Monday." The Sparks brothers sold a 10-acre tract on March 12, 1889 to the Sparks Improvement Company and lots were then offered for sale. The land north of the river was settled in 1883. It was called Seven Creeks and consisted of the area between the military reservation on the west and the Keya Paha County line to the east. In June 1890, on a motion by Jake Grooms, the area was divided into Sparks and Kewanee precincts, which are the modern names for the two areas. A post office/store was established at Sparks in 1888 and has operated there continuously since. In 1888, a church committee was formed and the foundation laid. In 1889, the church was completed by the pioneers in the area. Logs were harvested from the Niobrara canyons and milled locally. To celebrate, a gathering was held, called the Harvest Home Celebration. This would later be changed to Old Settlers and continues to this day, making it one of the longest continuous gatherings to honor the pioneer settlers of Nebraska. The Sparks Church served as