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History · Lake

Lake’s post office opened in 1860, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Lake was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Lake Railroad Station. Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 1880.

1860first post office

1on the National Register

3%homes built before 1940

4famous people

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Photo: Ktkvtsh · CC BY 4.0

Quick answers

How Lake began

When was Lake founded?

1860

The Lake post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 190 in 18802020 census: 475166 years

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

What stands out about 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 Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 2000. Watch Lake change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Lake on the map, 1922 to 2000

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

1922Forest 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.

The story

How Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake.

Read it all →

Lake was originally known as Marysville. In 1859, the community was the eastern terminus of the railroad eastward from Vicksburg. A railway turntable and car barn were constructed east of the community. These structures were destroyed on April 24, 1863 during Grierson's Raid.

During Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's Meridian campaign, a detachment led by General Andrew Hickenlooper destroyed two locomotives, 35 rail cars, tracks, and an engine house. The force also burned machine shops, livery stables, a railroad depot, sawmills, and turpentine tanks. The total amount of damage Sherman's force completed in Lake was estimated at $1,000,000.

In 1906, Lake had a population of 500, four churches, a bank, two sawmills, and two seminaries.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Lake, 1892–1895

Passages that mention Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Area of Whitney Pond.........-.....--..-.--.. a In all cases our measurements of streams were made, as nearly as Fon ngayon along the shore. We measured all the affluents flowing into the southwest arm of Lake Itasca, and also those emptying into Lake Glazier, and found that Excelsior Creek, a feed… — **Headwaters of the Mississippi [microform]**1895 · page 377Read the page →
Read the text
Area of Whitney Pond.........-.....--..-.--.. a In all cases our measurements of streams were made, as nearly as Fon ngayon along the shore. We measured all the affluents flowing into the southwest arm of Lake Itasca, and also those emptying into Lake Glazier, and found that Excelsior Creek, a feeder of Lake Glazier, was a dog the lon tributary of either lake, its source being 6,799 feet farther from Lake Itasca than the source of Nicollet Creek, errone-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

their length, width, and depth carefully* measured. The result, as shown by the joint report of the surveyors, confirmed by the gentlemen assisting in the survey, is most convincing to my mind that Lake Glazier, lying to the south of Lake Itasca, and separated from the latter by an elevated ridge o… — **Headwaters of the Mississippi**1892 · page 397Read the page →
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their length, width, and depth carefully* measured. The result, as shown by the joint report of the surveyors, confirmed by the gentlemen assisting in the survey, is most convincing to my mind that Lake Glazier, lying to the south of Lake Itasca, and separated from the latter by an elevated ridge of land, is unquestionably the True Head of the Mississippi, being united to Lake Itasca by a permanently flowing stream — the ' ' Infant Mississippi. " From what I have personally wit-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

sion INDORSEMENT AND CONCLUSION. 897 Assisted by Oliver 8. Keay, I measured all the creeks flowing into the southwest arm of Lake Itasca, and those emptying into Lake Glazier, and found that Excelsior Creek, an affluent of Lake Glazier, is by far the longest feeder, its source ng 6,799 feet farther… — **Headwaters of the Mississippi [microform]**1895 · page 397Read the page →
Read the text
sion INDORSEMENT AND CONCLUSION. 897 Assisted by Oliver 8. Keay, I measured all the creeks flowing into the southwest arm of Lake Itasca, and those emptying into Lake Glazier, and found that Excelsior Creek, an affluent of Lake Glazier, is by far the longest feeder, its source ng 6,799 feet farther from Lake Itasca than the source of Nicollet Creek. It is my belief that the Source of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Lake, 1860 to 1975

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

19th century
1860Post officeThe Lake post office opens
20th century
1900Born hereJim Lyle is born here
1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1931Born hereJohn Littlejohn is born here
1933Born hereChuck Gavin is born here
1975Born hereRandy Houser is born here

By decade

Lake, decade by decade

Today3 recent

2024Lake Water Tower

2024Lake Railroad Station

2024Lake Railroad Depot marker

On the National Register

1 historic place in Lake

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1984

Lake Railroad Station

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1

All 1 listings

Lake Railroad StationBuilding · listed 1984

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

People over time

Lake, census by census

Between 190 and 524 people in every census since 1880.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Lake

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

John LittlejohnAmerican electric blues slide guitarist · b. 1931

Randy HouserAmerican musician · b. 1975

Jim LyleAmerican baseball player · b. 1900

Chuck GavinAmerican football player · b. 1933

Questions about Lake’s history

What year was Lake founded?

The Lake post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lake?

One place: the Lake Railroad Station (listed 1984).

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 (3), 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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