History · Cedar Lake

Cedar Lake’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Cedar Lake. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Cedar Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, Cedar Lake had a population of 404. The CDP is in southwestern Canadian County, built around Cedar Lake, a reservoir. It is 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Hinton, 21 miles (34 km) southwest of El Reno, and 45 miles (72 km) west of Oklahoma City.

Half of its homes were built before 1967.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cedar Lake yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

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Start Cedar Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cedar Lake’s history is told.

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Famous people close to Cedar Lake

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By decade

Cedar Lake, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Cedar Lake is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Cedar Lake has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Bridgeport Bridge in Bridgeport, 10.7 miles away.

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Bridgeport Bridge’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Cedar Lake?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Cedar Lake’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01