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History · Lake Township

54% of Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Fruitdale School, the Fruitdale Store and the William Johnson House. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1973 on.

3on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about 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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lake Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFountain Artesian Well, at Lake Andes, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Lake Township, in brief

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

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 79 to 177 (+124%).

Timeline

Lake Township, 1908 to 1973

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908In the archiveFountain Artesian Well, at Lake Andes, S. Dak
  3. 1910BuiltFruitdale Store is built
  4. 1910In the archiveMain St
  5. 1920BuiltFruitdale School is built
  6. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lake Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
Fountain Artesian Well, at Lake Andes, S. Dak1908Fountain Artesian Well, at Lake Andes, S. DakMain St1910Main StMain St1910Main St
1920s–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
On the map

Lake Township on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Lake Township on the 1973 USGS mapLake Township on the 1985 USGS map1973Willow Lake 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 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.

Fountain Artesian Well, at Lake Andes, S. Dak
Retake this viewFountain Artesian Well, at Lake Andes, S. Dak, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Lake Township

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Fruitdale School
Fruitdale School, built 1920Fruitdale Store, built 1910William Johnson House
Buildings
Fruitdale SchoolBuilt 1920
Fruitdale StoreBuilt 1910
All 3 listings
William Johnson HouseBuilding · listed 1986

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pleasant Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWillow Lake1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCollins TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHague TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMerton Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lake Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Lake Township?

Three places: the Fruitdale School (listed 1986), the Fruitdale Store (1986) and the William Johnson House (1986).

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 the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3) and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.