Clear Lake Township’s post office opened in 1851, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #462 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Clear Lake Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Camp Butler National Cemetery. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 1960.
The Clear Lake Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Clear Lake (1851) and Bissell (1896), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 219 in 19602020 census: 8,348175 years
How historic is Clear Lake Township?
C+
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clear Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clear Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clear Lake Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #462 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clear Lake Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clear Lake Township’s 1.2 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Illinois 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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 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 Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clear Lake
1851–1854
Bissell
1896–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BissellClear Lake
Gone or out of use
Brentwood Landing StripairportClear Lake PitmineClear Lake SchoolschoolFork Prairie SchoolschoolNorth Round Prairie SchoolschoolR and S AirportairportWright Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clear Lake Township
BissellCamp Butler NationalLadysmithMalloryMartinOak HillRoselawn Memorial ParkTaylor
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Clear Lake Township on the map, 1907 to 1998
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clear Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Springfield 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 Clear Lake Township.
Camp Butler National Cemetery is located just to the north of Clear Lake. There is also a body of water located in the village called Clear Lake. Civil War-era Camp Butler’s training and mustering grounds were on the banks of and close to Clear Lake. As an isolated, sand-bottom lake, it provided relatively clean water for the troops and horses. After the Civil War this was a popular recreation area for many in the Springfield area. Clear Lake declined in importance after the larger Lake Springfield was built in the 1930s. The lake was bought by the City of Springfield in the 2000s as a backup water source.
Passages that mention Clear Lake Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County1912 · page 1635Read the page →
Read the text
In his boyhood Nelson Snodgrass helped his father develop and cultivate the farm, and received his education in the country schools of Clear Lake Township. When he was old enough to choose his occupation in life he chose farming, and began working for himself in Clear Lake Township, moving to the farm now occupied by his widow April 18, 1868. He was an ambitious
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County1912 · page 1705Read the page →
Read the text
he was employed by the Wabash Railroad Company seven years, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy two years, and then purchased a small farm in Clear Lake Township, and by steady, industrious work added to it from time to time, until at the time of his death he was the owner of 300 acres of fine farming property. In 1895 he retired from active pursuits and settled in
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 Township, 1851 to 1907
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Clear Lake Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clear Lake Township rank for history?
Clear Lake Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #462 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Township?
One place: the Camp Butler National Cemetery (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Clear Lake Township?
7% of Clear Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
