Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1940.
The Clear Lake post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clear Lake’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clear Lake.
A post office was established at Clear Lake in 1870, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1903. Clear Lake was incorporated as a town in 1933.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Clear Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.
He also prepared the way for a good class at West Amboy. Sixteen members of Clear Lake class reorganized at the Brown schoolhouse, on Fremont Township line, and a new class was organized at the Stone school-house, at South Camden, Mich., which was called South Camden class, where a large revival was held. Rev.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This year John McElhenie, F. Brouse and L. I. C. Young were elected Trustees to build a meeting-house at Clear Lake, but they reported adversely and were discharged." John Kogin, H. Barr and L. Douber were elected Trustees to build a meeting-house at Otsego, but they failed to agree on a site, and troubles arose, and in 1879 all but six members withdrew i© r"
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clear Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
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.
Grew from 65 people in 1940 to 354 in 2020, 5 times over.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clear Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Clear Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Clear Lake had its own post office from 1870 to 1903.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Clear Lake post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.
