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C−History
History · Cheat Lake

Half of Cheat Lake’s homes were built after 1994

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #52 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it

Most of Cheat Lake was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Cheat Lake’s history

How historic is Cheat Lake?

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More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Cheat Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cheat Lake is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #52 of 61 in West Virginia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cheat Lake’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19405.3% of homes (±3.8) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WV town 29.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
West Virginia towns of 2,500+ (61)Ahead of 15%

West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cheat Lake’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points).

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Cheat Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cheat Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cheat Lake, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19026 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1997. Watch Cheat Lake change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cheat Lake’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Laurel Iron Works
1864–1900
Tyrone
1897–1903
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cheat NeckGreystoneSunset BeachTyrone
Gone or out of use
Cheat Lake Junior High SchoolschoolFletcher ChapelchurchIces FerrycrossingLaurel Iron WorkslocaleMont Chateau State ParkparkMount Pleasant SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolTrinity Christian High SchoolschoolVandevort Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cheat Lake
BakerBlaneyDonaldsonFletcherJennewinePleasant HillZion Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Cheat Lake on the map, 1902 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cheat Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cheat Lake on the 1902 USGS mapCheat Lake on the 1925 USGS mapCheat Lake on the 1931 USGS mapCheat Lake on the 1960 USGS mapCheat Lake on the 1976 USGS mapCheat Lake on the 1997 USGS map1902Morgantown sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cheat Lake.

The story so far

Cheat Lake, in brief

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

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%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cheat Lake, 1864 to 1903

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Laurel Iron Works post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Tyrone post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Laurel Iron Works post office closes
  6. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1903Post officeThe Tyrone post office closes
By decade

Cheat Lake, decade by decade

Today7 recent
WV 43 sb approaching I-68, May 20242024WV 43 sb approaching I-68, May 2024Monongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (2), May 20242024Monongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (2), May 2024Monongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (1), May 20242024Monongalia Co., WV CR 857 nb (1), May 20242017-07-23 17 08 48 View north along West Virginia State Route 43 (Mon Fayette Expressway) at Interstate 68 in20172017-07-23 17 08 48 View north along West Virginia St…Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USA2014Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USACheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (2)2014Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (2)Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (1)2014Cheat Lake, WV 26508, USA - panoramio (1)
People over time

Cheat Lake, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00020002020Peak: 9,930

Between 6,396 and 9,930 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cheat Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cheat Lake

Nobody well known was born in Cheat Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Don KnottsAmerican actor and stand-up comedian · b. 1924
David SelbyAmerican actor · b. 1941
Robert P. GeorgeAmerican legal scholar · b. 1955
A
Alan HendersonAmerican basketball player · b. 1972
William EasterlyAmerican development economist · b. 1957
J
John Henry Kinkead3rd Governor of Nevada and 1st Governor of the … · b. 1826
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BrookhavenIts storyC−

Questions about Cheat Lake’s history

How does Cheat Lake rank for history?

Cheat Lake is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #52 of 61 in West Virginia. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Cheat Lake?

5% of Cheat Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1994.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.