TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
Cheat LakeGood evening
History · Cheat Lake

Cheat Lake’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
7recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Cheat Lake is a census-designated place in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, surrounding the Cheat Lake reservoir. The population was 9,930 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Morgantown metropolitan area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,988 to 9,930 (+24%). Half of its homes were built before 1994.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cheat 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.

Be one of the first

Start Cheat Lake’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from Cheat LakeWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Cheat Lake.Meet them →
By decade

Cheat 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.
📷 Add from your album
Today7 photos
WV 43 sb approaching I-68, May 2024CommonsWV 43 sb approaching I-68, May 20242024Monongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (2), May 2024CommonsMonongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (2), May 20242024Monongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (1), May 2024CommonsMonongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (1), May 202420242017-07-23 17 08 48 View north along West Virginia State Route 43 (Mon Fayette Expressway) at Interstate 68 inCommons2017-07-23 17 08 48 View north along West Virginia State Ro…2017Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USACommonsCheat Lake, WV 26508, USA2014Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (2)CommonsCheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (2)2014Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (1)CommonsCheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (1)2014
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Cheat Lake is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Cheat Lake has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Henry Clay Furnace in Cheat Lake, 1.9 miles away.

Cheat Lake and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Cheat Lake. Tap a dot.
Henry Clay FurnaceCamp RhododendronEaston Roller MillCoopers Rock State Forest Superintendent's House and GarageHarner HomesteadVance Farmhouse

Closest to Cheat Lake

Henry Clay FurnaceCheat Lake · Structure1.9miCamp RhododendronCheat Lake · District2.5miEaston Roller MillMorgantown · Building3.5miCoopers Rock State Forest Superintendent's House and GarageCheat Lake · Building3.6miHarner HomesteadMorgantown · Building4.7mi

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. Henry Clay Furnace’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Cheat Lake?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Cheat 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
📜 Morgantown📜 Point Marion📜 Springhill📜 Star City

From Wikimedia Commons (7). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The porch light’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Cheat Lake, WVView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Cheat Lake is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

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