Districts in the National Register of Historic Places
Swan Lake Historic District
Significance
At one time, Spring-fed Orcutt Lake was the watering hole for a ranch belonging to Colonel A. D. Orcutt, a member of Oklahoma’s first legislature. In 1908, a group of developers led by Colonel Orcutt’s son, Samuel A. Orcutt, purchased 25 acres in Orcutt Addition to build a park and an artificial lake. The amusement park, built by the lake in 1910, marked the end of the trolley line. Other park facilities included an enclosed dance pavilion, a swimming pool, and, later, a $7,600 roller-coaster. By 1917, Orcutt Lake Amusement Park had become a residential area and was renamed Swan Lake. By 1925, residential construction was well established. Since 1970, there has been a strong market demand by young, middle-class families who value the large houses, quiet, tree-lined streets, and the area’s proximity to the Utica Square shopping center, 15th Street, and the Central Business District. From the outset of the development, interaction within the neighborhood among the apartments and the single family residential homes was a common occurrence that did not destroy the integrity of the neighborhood.