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History · Crystal Lake

17% of Crystal Lake’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and old-book passages.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Crystal Lake’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Crystal Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crystal Lake’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Crystal Lake, in brief

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

Crystal Lake is a town in Barron County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 743 at the 2020 census, down from 757 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Comstock is located in the town.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 757 in 2010, 743 in 2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Crystal Lake in 1922

Passages that mention Crystal Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Crystal Lake was set off from Cumberland Nov. 12, 1902, leaving Cumberland with its present outline and dimensions.
History of Barron County Wisconsin1922 · page 1089Read the page →
Read the text

Crystal Lake was set off from Cumberland Nov. 12, 1902, leaving Cumberland with its present outline and dimensions.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Crystal Lake embraces Township 35, Range 14. In the spring of 1902 a vote was taken on the division of the town of Cumberland. It would seem that the people who were to remain in the old town were more anxious for the sepa¬ ration than the people who were to constitute the new town, for in Township…
History of Barron County Wisconsin1922 · page 1055Read the page →
Read the text

Crystal Lake embraces Township 35, Range 14. In the spring of 1902 a vote was taken on the division of the town of Cumberland. It would seem that the people who were to remain in the old town were more anxious for the sepa¬ ration than the people who were to constitute the new town, for in Township 35, Range 13, the vote was 200 for the proposition and 75 against it, while in Township 35, Range 14, the vote was 53 for the proposition and 47 against it.

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.

Timeline

Crystal Lake, 1881 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Comstock post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Sprague post office opens
  4. 1896Post officeThe Sprague post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Crystal Lake on the map, 1956 to 1982

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

Crystal Lake on the 1956 USGS mapCrystal Lake on the 1982 USGS map1956Cumberland sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Crystal Lake.

Famous people

Famous people close to Crystal Lake

Nobody well known was born in Crystal Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
John PetersonOlympic wrestler · b. 1948
D
David HansonAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1954
Charles C. McDonaldUnited States Air Force general · b. 1933
Ben Hur LampmanU.S. newspaper editor, essayist, short story wr… · b. 1886
J
Jules AlfonseAmerican football player · b. 1911
A
Al KircherAmerican football player · b. 1910
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Sprague, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Comstock
1881–today
Sprague
1883–1896
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Comstock
Gone or out of use
Sprague Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Crystal Lake
Crystal Lake

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Cumberland2 historic placesB+JohnstownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaple PlainIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlmenaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCumberlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Crystal Lake’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.