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History · Pleasant Lake

Pleasant Lake’s post office opened in 1851, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1942 on.

1851first post office
1on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
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Photo: MrHarman · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Pleasant Lake began

When was Pleasant Lake founded?

1851

The Pleasant Lake post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.

175 years
Founding year: the first Pleasant Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Pleasant 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 Pleasant Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Pleasant Lake’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pleasant Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pleasant 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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The story

How Pleasant Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pleasant Lake.

Read it all →

Pleasant Lake was originally called Nipcondish, which means "pleasant waters." The town is named after the lake which is the focus of the town.

The Pleasant Lake post office has been in operation since 1851.

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Pleasant Lake on the map, 1942 to 1993

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

Pleasant Lake on the 1942 USGS mapPleasant Lake on the 1959 USGS mapPleasant Lake on the 1981 USGS mapPleasant Lake on the 1993 USGS map1942Ashley sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Pleasant Lake

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Pleasant Lake’s history

What year was Pleasant Lake founded?

The Pleasant Lake post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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.