5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 6 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1890.
The Lake View post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fletcher (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 366 in 18902020 census: 1,113139 years
How historic is Lake View?
B+
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lake View post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lake View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake View is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake View’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 Lake View’s 72.4 sits above most of its state (79% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 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 Lake View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area around what is today called Black Hawk Lake was settled by white settlers in 1867. The first settlement was built by Robert Throssel and his son, followed by Joseph Parkinson, Noah Borah, William Johnston, Thomas Waddicor and George Trainer. In 1880 Platt Armstrong and James Fletcher built a railway station for the North Western Railway Company and laid out the town of Fletcher. The town was incorporated as a city and the name was changed from Fletcher to Lake View in 1887. The present name was selected for the scenic view over Wall Lake.
The following reminiscence was written by Piatt Armstrong, one of the pioneers and founders of the town of Lake View, this county: "In 1875 I came from Lost Nation, Clinton county, Iowa, to Sac county and bought section 13, Clinton township. I sent my eldest son, Alden, and Oren Haskins, with teams and breaking plows, to break up the land. They broke out about a hundred and sixty acres. That autumn I helped the improvements along by shipping one load of lumber to Vail, it being the nearest railroad station. My son started to haul it. The first load he left in a
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
Lake View, 1880 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Lake View’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Fletcher, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fletcher
1880–1887
Lake View
1887–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lakeview
Gone or out of use
Lake Viewlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lake View’s history
What year was Lake View founded?
The Lake View post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lake View rank for history?
Lake View is more historic than 74% 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 View?
5 listings: 1 building, 3 historic districts, the Blackhawk State Park, Black Hawk Preserve (Area B), the Blackhawk State Park, Wildlife Preserve Area (Area A) and the Lakeside Park Historic District, with 6 contributing buildings, and 1 object. 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lake View?
26% of Lake View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (2), Wikidata (4), 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.
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