Many small towns once stood in the area now covered by Lake Ouachita. Settlers first came to the upper Ouachita River valley in the decades before the Civil War to establish homes, farms, and businesses, creating communities such as Cedar Glades, once known as Harold, Buckville, White Plains, and Little Georgia. The construction of Blakely Mountain Dam forced residents to move away, and this exodus took place primarily during the 1930s and 1940s, although the dam's formal dedication did not occur until July 4, 1956. The Buckville Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.