Lake Lugert was created over the former town of Lugert (founded in 1902) which was destroyed by a tornado on April 27, 1912. One can see the old foundations of the houses which used to stand in the area. Layers of brick and weeds dominate the area making it hard to walk through when the lake is dry. The town was hit by a tornado several times leaving the town to only rebuild. Later after the last tornado hit the town, the towns people decided to leave, abandoning the entire town. Lake Altus has been expanded to include the town of Lugert, also creating Lake Lugert.
Lake Altus-Lugert is the primary storage facility for the W.C. Austin Project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. This project provides irrigation water to some 48,000 acres of land located in southwestern Oklahoma.
Lake Altus had its beginnings in 1927 when the city of Altus, Oklahoma built Altus Dam as a source of municipal water for the city. Interest in providing irrigation water to farmers in the region prompted the U.S. Government to authorize construction of a larger reservoir in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1938. The dam was to be raised 50 feet to impound more water. Construction started in 1941, and was interrupted by World War II. Construction resumed in 1944. The dam, as it stands today, was completed in 1947.
There is also an extensive system of canals leaving Lake Altus in order to deliver the irrigation water to farmland. Most of these canals and distribution laterals were completed by 1953.