Most of Lake Park was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Its Register listing is the Ewell Brown General Store. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lake Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Park is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Park’s overall grade.
Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lake Park’s 8.1 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1889.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Lake Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lake Park was laid out in 1889 along the route of the newly completed Georgia Southern and Florida Railway. It was originally named Lawrence after its founder, Lawrence A. Wisenbaker. However, the name Lawrenceville was rejected due to the existence of another town with the same name in Georgia. Subsequently, in April 1890, it was renamed Lake Park in reference to the numerous lakes surrounding the original town site. The Georgia General Assembly officially incorporated Lake Park in December 1890.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Lake Park, census by census
Grew from 319 people in 1900 to 932 in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Park’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Lake Park’s history
What year was Lake Park founded?
In 1889, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lake Park’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1900 counted 319 people here.
How does Lake Park rank for history?
Lake Park is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Lake Park?
One place: the Ewell Brown General Store (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Lake Park?
2% of Lake Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2005.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2013
2005
