Editing Oak Ridge, Louisiana (section)

==History==
The earliest inhabitants of the area were different [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] societies that existed prior to European contact. Between 1540 and 1685 a multimound site with an adjoining central plaza was built. Since its archeological rediscovery, the area has come to be known as the [[Jordan Mounds]]. It is believed that by 1700 the site was abandoned, likely due to contact with explorers like [[Hernando de Soto]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tristram R. Kidder |title=Excavations at the Jordan Site (16Mo1), Morehouse Parish, Louisiana |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40712974 |journal=Southeastern Archaeology |access-date=May 13, 2024 |date=1992|volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–131 |jstor=40712974 }}</ref>

[[Morehouse Parish]] was formed in 1844 after the result of an increasing population in the area.<ref>{{cite web |title=HISTORY OF MOREHOUSE PARISH |url=http://bastroplacoc.org/?page_id=223#:~:text=Morehouse%20Parish%20was%20created%20in,through%20the%20parish%20after%201890. |website=The Chamber |publisher=Bastrop LA Chamber of Commerce |access-date=May 12, 2024 |date=2016}}</ref> It is thought that a small farming community was formed near Oak Ridge's modern location around this time. [[Cedars Plantation]] located at 4987 Lake Irwin Rd is considered the oldest surviving structure not just in the town, but the whole parish, built in 1840. It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on May 19, 1976. It had been abandoned in 2008 after the last homeowner passed away, but in 2010 a proposal was created in order for the property to be restored.

Not much is known about the towns early history, but one surviving relic is a small wooden jail that is estimated to have been built in 1850. Simply known as the "Oak Ridge, Louisiana Jail", it is believed to be the last surviving pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] wooden jail in the state.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Bernard Fisher |title=Oak Ridge, Louisiana Jail |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=88285 |website=HMdb.org |publisher=THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE |access-date=May 12, 2024 |date=2015}}</ref> The existence of this jail hints at the fact that Oak Ridge may have served an administrative purpose for the parish at the time. It is written that "the parish sheriff would use this jail to lock up free and enslaved men." The jail was eventually donated and now sits at the [[Louisiana State University]] - Rural Life Museum in [[Baton Rouge]].

[[File:Oak Ridge, Louisiana during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.jpg|thumb|left|The Bank of Oak Ridge seen during the flood.]]
Oak Ridge was incorporated as a village in 1882.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oak Ridge |url=https://www.lma.org/LMA/About_LMA/Organization_Profile.aspx?id=1206 |website=LMA |publisher=Louisiana Minucipal Association |access-date=May 12, 2024}}</ref>

The [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]] affected Oak Ridge much as it did the other states and towns within the [[Mississippi River Basin]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Betty Jo Harris |title=The Flood of 1927 and the Great Depression: Two Delta Disasters |url=https://www.louisianafolklife.org/lt/articles_essays/deltadepression.html |website=Folk Life in Louisiana |publisher=Office of Cultural Development: Division of the Arts |access-date=December 30, 2024 |date=2012}}</ref>