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History · Apple Canyon Lake

Half of Apple Canyon Lake’s homes were built after 1989

Most of Apple Canyon Lake was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1911 on.

0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Apple Canyon 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 Apple Canyon Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19114 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1975. Watch Apple Canyon Lake change.
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Start Apple Canyon Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Apple Canyon 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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On the map

Apple Canyon Lake on the map, 1911 to 1975

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

Apple Canyon Lake on the 1911 USGS mapApple Canyon Lake on the 1936 USGS mapApple Canyon Lake on the 1968 USGS mapApple Canyon Lake on the 1975 USGS map1911Elizabeth sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Apple Canyon Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Apple Canyon Lake.

Read it all →

Apple Canyon Lake is a planned vacation community developed in the late 1960s by the Branigar Organization of Medinah, Illinois. Branigar had developed similar vacation home projects in Wisconsin: Dutch Hollow Lake and Lake Redstone where Branigar built a dam along a stream and then sold water front vacation lots. Branigar assembled the 2,700 acres (1,100 ha) of land in Jo Daviess County, Illinois that was considered by farmers as marginal pasture land due to the steep inclines and rocky out croppings of limestone. An interesting aspect of the development is that 85 percent of the 15 miles of shore line is unsubdivided and is to remain green space. This provides lake access to those lots not on the shoreline. In addition, the main road is set back from the lake with lots accessible via cul de sacs.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Questions about Apple Canyon Lake’s history

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

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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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.