Most of Clam Lake was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1971 on.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clam Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clam Lake is an unincorporated, census-designated place in the town of Gordon in Ashland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on Wisconsin Highway 77 near County Highway GG. The entire area lies within the Chequamegon National Forest, an 860,000-acre area spread across northern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 36, a tiny decrease from 37 in 2010. Situated near the headwaters of the Chippewa Flowage, the area encompasses several smaller lakes that host prime Musky fishing. Clam Lake is well known as the site of the reintroduction of elk in Wisconsin with a herd of 25 in 1995 by the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, which has grown to an estimated 180. Clam…
Its first post office opened in 1928. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 37 to 36 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
Clam Lake, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 (1) 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.
1982
