Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lake Township

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 Township

18% of Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1969 on.

0on the National Register
18%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.
★ 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.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 646 in 2010, 641 in 2020.

Timeline

Lake Township, 1908 to 1969

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. 1910In the archiveMain St
  4. 1969On 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, 1969 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 1969 USGS mapLake Township on the 1985 USGS map1969Watertown West 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
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Green Trees Subdivision

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.

Watertown28 historic placesB+Fuller Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElmira Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRauville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPelican TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRichland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about 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 the Library of Congress (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.