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History · Houston Lake

13% of Houston Lake’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1960.

0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Houston 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 Houston Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 338 in 1970; 229 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Houston Lake’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Houston Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Houston 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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People over time

Houston Lake, census by census

01002003001960198020002020Peak: 338

Peaked at 338 in 1970; 229 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

The story so far

Houston Lake, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Houston Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Houston Lake is a city in Platte County, Missouri, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. It is a private lake that is only available to residents of Houston Lake. The population was 229 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 235 to 229 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Houston Lake on the map, 1948 to 1990

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

Houston Lake on the 1948 USGS mapHouston Lake on the 1951 USGS mapHouston Lake on the 1964 USGS mapHouston Lake on the 1970 USGS mapHouston Lake on the 1990 USGS map1948North Kansas City 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 Houston Lake.

Famous people

Famous people close to Houston Lake

Nobody well known was born in Houston Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ed AsnerAmerican actor · b. 1929
Jean HarlowAmerican film actress · b. 1911
Robert AltmanAmerican filmmaker · b. 1925
D
Don CheadleAmerican actor · b. 1964
Dianne WiestAmerican actress · b. 1948
Janelle MonáeAmerican singer and actress · b. 1985

Questions about Houston Lake’s history

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 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.