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History · Crystal Lake

Crystal Lake’s post office opened in 1870, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1900.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Crystal Lake began

When was Crystal Lake founded?

1870

The Crystal Lake post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 246 in 19002020 census: 253156 years
Founding year: the first Crystal Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Crystal Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Crystal Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Crystal Lake’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crystal Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crystal Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Crystal Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Crystal Lake.

Read it all →

Crystal Lake was platted in 1898, and incorporated as a city in 1899.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Crystal Lake in 1917

Passages that mention Crystal Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

CRYSTAL LAKE There are two plats of Crystal Lake on file in the county auditor's office, one for the village of Crystal Lake and the other for the town of Crystal Lake. The former comprised the northwest fractional quarter of Section 15, Township 97, Range 25 West, and the latter
History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement ..1917Read the page →
Read the text

CRYSTAL LAKE There are two plats of Crystal Lake on file in the county auditor's office, one for the village of Crystal Lake and the other for the town of Crystal Lake. The former comprised the northwest fractional quarter of Section 15, Township 97, Range 25 West, and the latter

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This practically completed the settlement of the county of Hancock until the year 1865, after the close of the Civil War, when Edwin Trumbull and Myron Booth came to Crystal Lake. Another reason which may be cited as preventing the tide of emigration from coming this way was the land speculator, th…
History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement ..1917 · page 222Read the page →
Read the text

This practically completed the settlement of the county of Hancock until the year 1865, after the close of the Civil War, when Edwin Trumbull and Myron Booth came to Crystal Lake. Another reason which may be cited as preventing the tide of emigration from coming this way was the land speculator, the bane of the frontier settlements.

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.

By decade

Crystal Lake, decade by decade

Today6 recent
World's Largest Bullhead2026World's Largest BullheadWorld's Largest Bullhead2025World's Largest BullheadCrystal Lake in the Morning - Looking back at the Southern Shore2025Crystal Lake in the Morning - Looking back at the Sou…Crystal Lake in the Morning - From the Bridge2025Crystal Lake in the Morning - From the BridgeCrystal LakeIowaPopPlot2021Crystal LakeIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-CrystalLake2004IAMap-doton-CrystalLake
On the map

Crystal Lake on the map, 1972 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Crystal Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Crystal Lake on the 1972 USGS mapCrystal Lake on the 1985 USGS map1972Crystal Lake sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Crystal Lake.

People over time

Crystal Lake, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 314

Between 143 and 314 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Crystal Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Crystal Lake

Nobody well known was born in Crystal Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Terry BranstadAmerican politician · b. 1946
W
Wallace StegnerAmerican historian, writer, and environmentalist · b. 1909
Selmer JacksonAmerican actor · b. 1888
Alvin BaldusAmerican politician · b. 1926
Henry TeiganAmerican trade unionist and politician · b. 1881
Leo ElthonAmerican politician · b. 1898
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Crystal Lake’s post office has been open since 1870.

Gone or out of use
Crystallakelocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Crystal Lake’s history

What year was Crystal Lake founded?

The Crystal Lake post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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 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.