Most of Shamrock Lakes was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 1980.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Shamrock Lakes yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Shamrock Lakes is a town in Licking Township, Blackford County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Shamrock Lakes had a population of 222. It was incorporated on May 21, 1973—and was the first community in Indiana to do so in 50 years. The small town consists of a group of six lakes that were created between 1960 and 1965, and the first lake was originally intended to be a water supply for a farmer's cattle. The community was listed on the front page of USA Today as one of only five places in the United States named after Ireland's clover emblem, the shamrock.
Shamrock Lakes was established in 1973. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 231 to 222 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shamrock Lakes. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1960Hartford City West 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 Shamrock Lakes.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewShamrock-lakes-indiana-from-above
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shamrock Lakes’ page.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2016
