Clear Lake’s post office opened in 1862, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #97 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Surf Ballroom, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1870.
The Clear Lake post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Clear Lake City (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 775 in 18702020 census: 7,687164 years
How historic is Clear Lake?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clear Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clear Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clear Lake is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #97 of 140 in Iowa. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clear Lake’s overall grade.
Iowa towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Iowa town has 9.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clear Lake’s 6.6 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Clear Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Clear Lake’s post office has been open since 1862. Another post office, Clear Lake City, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clear Lake City
1855–1862
Clear Lake
1862–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Green Meadows Mobile Home ParkLakeside Acres Mobile ParkOrchard Park Mobile Home Court
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clear Lake
Clear LakeForest Lawn Memorial Garden
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Clear Lake, building by building, 1893–1916
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The region around the lake that would later be called Clear Lake was a summer home to the Dakota and Winnebago American Indians. During a land survey of northern Iowa done in 1832 by Nathan Boone, the son of explorer Daniel Boone, a map was made showing the lake and other bodies of water in the area.
In 1851, Joseph Hewitt and James Dickirson brought their families to camp on the east side of Clear Lake, soon building a cabin, and began a friendship with the Winnebago natives. By 1853, many more white settlers had also came to settle in the area. By the year 1855, the first Clear Lake school was built as well as the first steam saw mill. In that year a hotel was built by James Crow.
Passages that mention Clear Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. From materials in the public archives, the Iowa Historical Society's collection, the newspapers and data of personal interviews1910 · page 544Read the page →
Read the text
He came to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, in 1880. and settled on a farm in Clear Lake township, five miles and a half south of Clear Lake. At the end of three years he traded his farm for a nursery at Clear Lake, which he conducted for ten years, after which he sold out and moved to St. Paul. At St. Paul for twelve years, \rith the assistance of his wife and daughter, he conducted the "St.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. From materials in the public archives, the Iowa Historical Society's collection, the newspapers and data of personal interviews1910 · page 489Read the page →
Read the text
enterprises. He is a director, and adjuster for eight counties, of both the Iowa Mutual Tornado Insurance Company and the Town Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and is a director of the Cerro Gordo Farm Co-operative Creamery Company at Clear Lake, of which, for seven years, he was president. In 1904 he erected the postoffice building in Clear Lake, a modern, two-story, brick stnicture; the only fireproof building in the toAvn. For years he has been prominently identified with the Cerro Gordo Fair Association,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Clear Lake, 1855 to 2021
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Clear Lake post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clear Lake rank for history?
Clear Lake is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #97 of 140 in Iowa. 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 Clear Lake?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Surf Ballroom (a National Historic Landmark since 2021) and the Elks-Rogers Hotel (listed 1982, the first), and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in Clear Lake?
15% of Clear Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908