The area of Lakeville was first settled by Euro-Americans in 1836. The railroad in 1845 spurred further growth. By the 1890s there were 13 one-room school houses in the vicinity. In 1898 they were consolidated into one two-story elementary school in Lakeville. The town of Lakeville was incorporated in 1902.
Lakeville High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corporation, owned since 2016 by parent company Continental AG has their Headquarters, Track Services, and Warehouse operations in Lakeville with Manufacturing located 20 miles south in Plymouth, Indiana.
Passages that mention Lakeville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana1907 · page 315Read the page →
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The drainage and improved cultivation of the surrounding lands have also tended to establish the town upon a substantial basis, and Lakeville is now sure to go on prospering and to prosper. Lakeville became an incorporated town by order of the board of county commissioners, July 7, 1902.
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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana1907 · page 280Read the page →
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One mile north of Lakeville, in 1858, was built the first church in the township. This was built by the Methodist Episcopal Society, which had been organized about 1839.
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History of St. Joseph County, Indiana1880 · page 952Read the page →
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Tlie first church was built in ISiS, bj the Methodists, under the pastorship of Eev. Lawson Munson. It was built of hewed logs, on section 3-i, one mile north of LakevilJe. This served for a place of worship until the present church was erected in Lakeville. The old house is still standing, and is occupied by a family for a dwelling liouse. The J\[. E. church building in Lakeville was commenced in 1857 and finislied in 1S5S. The trustees were John and James Moon. Hubbard Henderson, Martin Page and William Biglow.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Lakeville, 1850 to 1978
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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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