Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lake City

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Lake City

Lake City dates to 1868, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1880.

1868founded
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lake City began

When was Lake City founded?

1868

Lake City dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 61 in 18802020 census: 829158 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1872.The full story ↓

What stands out about Lake City’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1895 to 1910, drew every building in Lake City.
★ What stands out · Every building

Lake City, building by building, 1895–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Lake City fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Lake City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake City.

Read it all →

The community's first settler, Daniel Reader, built his cabin on Muskrat Lake, now Lake Missaukee, in 1868. On January 22, 1872, Reeder was the name of post office open and the last name of its first postmaster, Daniel. The county selected Reeder by a one-vote margin as the county seat in 1873. The community became a station of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. The community was renamed on January 25, 1877, to Lake City. Lake City was incorporated as a village and platted in 1889. The village became a city in 1932.

Much of Missaukee County grew in the early 20th century because of the region's timber industry. The community continues to thrive because of local lumber mills.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake City, 1868 to 1979

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868
    FoundingLake City is established
  3. 1872Post officeThe Reeder post office opens
  4. 1877Post officeThe Reeder post office closes
  5. 1877Post officeThe Lake City post office opens
  6. 1880In the archiveLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel
  7. 1890In the archiveLake City, Michigan (1890's)
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900In the archiveLake Michigan, October
  10. 1910In the archiveLake Michigan, October
  11. 1924Born hereAlbert J. Engel Jr. is born here
  12. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1979In the archiveSt. John's Lutheran Church-Lake City
By decade

Lake City, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s5 items
Lake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel1880Lake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotelFort Sheridan, Ill1880Fort Sheridan, IllLake City, Michigan (1890's)1890Lake City, Michigan (1890's)Moonlight on Lake Michigan1890Moonlight on Lake MichiganJuneau Park and Lake Michigan, Milwaukee1890Juneau Park and Lake Michigan, Milwaukee
1900s–1910s3 items
Lake Michigan, October1900Lake Michigan, OctoberJuneau Park and Lake Michigan, Milwaukee1900Juneau Park and Lake Michigan, MilwaukeeLake Michigan, October1910Lake Michigan, October
1920s–1960snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1970s1 item
St. John's Lutheran Church-Lake City1979St. John's Lutheran Church-Lake City
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Lake City Free Methodist Church, Lake City, MI 2024-06-292024Lake City Free Methodist Church, Lake City, MI 2024-0…St. Stephen-Lake City2021St. Stephen-Lake CityMiltner Park2021Miltner ParkLake Missaukee (Michigan)2020Lake Missaukee (Michigan)Lake City, MI location2019Lake City, MI locationLake City, Michigan2017Lake City, MichiganLake City Methodist Church2014Lake City Methodist Church
On the map

Lake City on the map, 1956 to 1983

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

Lake City on the 1956 USGS mapLake City on the 1983 USGS map1956Lake City 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 Lake City.

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.

Lake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel
Retake this viewLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lake City’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lake City, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 923

Between 61 and 923 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake City’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Lake City’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Reeder, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Reeder
1872–1877
Lake City
1877–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Lake City Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Lake City
Old Lake City

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Lake City’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lake TownshipIts storyC−Forest TownshipIts storyC−Reeder TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Lake City’s history

What year was Lake City founded?

In 1868, according to Wikidata. Lake City’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 61 people here.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (7), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.