The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

LAKE ALUMA.

A small, secluded incorporated town that developed in the 1920s in Oklahoma County immediately northeast of and contiguous with Oklahoma City, Lake Aluma lies in a valley adjacent to the Deep Fork River. The community originated as a residential development created by a thirty-member organization, the Lake Aluma Club. The club called its property Aluma Cholusa, said to be Choctaw for "peaceful retreat." It was located at a well-known, hilly, wooded camping spot used by city dwellers in the first decade of the twentieth century. Members planned a golf course and wildlife preserve for deer, quail, and other animals.

In 1923 Lake Aluma comprised 336 acres lying southwest of the intersection of Sixty-third Street and Coltrane Avenue. In its first years vacationers constructed "summer homes" there, but soon permanent residences were built. A dam was constructed to create a lake, primarily for fishing, and a small hatchery was maintained in order to provide fish. By 1926 residents enjoyed sewer/water and electric utilities.

Lake Aluma incorporated in 1952, and the 1960 census recorded 82 inhabitants. The population peaked in 1970 at 124 and stabilized in 1980 at 101. The 1990 and 2000 censuses recorded 96 and 97, respectively, in about forty households. Ninety percent of employed residents earned a living in management or were professionals. There was no commercial development. The 2010 census found 88 people residing there. The April 2020 census reported 90.

Dianna Everett