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DEUEL COUNTY COURTHOUSE, CLEAR LAKE, SDPhoto: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Clear Lake Township

22% of Clear Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clear Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Clear Lake Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clear Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewClear Lake, Washington, ca. 1906: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Clear Lake Township, in brief

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

Clear Lake (Dakota: mdéza; "Clear") is a city in and the county seat of Deuel County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,218 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 242 to 218 (-10%).

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

By decade

Clear Lake Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Clear Lake, Washington, ca. 1906c. 1906Clear Lake, Washington, ca. 1906
1910s–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
Today10 recent
20240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0008202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000820240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0007202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000720240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0006202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000620240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0005202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000520240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0004202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0003202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000320240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0002202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-000220240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0001202420240829-USDA-RD-SD-MVF-Clear Lake-0001DEUEL COUNTY COURTHOUSE2013DEUEL COUNTY COURTHOUSESDMap-doton-ClearLake2004SDMap-doton-ClearLake
On the map

Clear Lake Township on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Clear Lake Township on the 1970 USGS mapClear Lake Township on the 1985 USGS map1970Brandt 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 Clear Lake Township.

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.

Clear Lake, Washington, ca. 1906
Retake this viewClear Lake, Washington, ca. 1906, c. 1906

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Clear Lake Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,335

Between 147 and 1,335 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Antelope Valley Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Clear Lake Township
Lakeview

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Brandt TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAltamont TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHavana TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHerrick Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorden Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Clear Lake Township’s history

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 (11), Wikidata (1), 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.