Most of Clear Lake was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1941 on and old-book passages.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clear Lake is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clear Lake’s overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clear Lake’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Clear Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clear Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clear Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, north of the town of Eatonville. The population was 1,419 as of the 2010 census. The name comes from that of the lake of the same name located in the middle of the census-designated place.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,419 to 1,578 (+11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Clear Lake in 1927
Passages that mention Clear Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 190Read the page →
Read the text
he remained three years. In 1887 he returned to Tacoma and was in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad until 1894, when he engaged in the grocery business in partnership with his brother. A short time later he sold out and went to Portland, where he remained three years. From there he went to Clear Lake, Washington, where he was engaged in a mercantile business about five and a half years. He came back to Tacoma in 1905 and embarked in the real estate, loan and insurance business, to which he has since devoted his attention, with a very gratifying measure of success. He is state agent for the Equitable Savings & Loan Asso-
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.
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.
Clear Lake is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Clear Lake?
3% of Clear Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1995.
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).
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
