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History · Clear Lake

Clear Lake’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Clear Lake. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Clear Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marshall County, South Dakota, United States, surrounding a natural lake of the same name. Within the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, it was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. The population was 170 at the 2020 census. It is in the southeast part of the county, bordered to the northeast by South Dakota Highway 10, which leads northwest 4 miles (6 km) to Lake City and southeast 16 miles (26 km) to Sisseton.

Half of its homes were built before 1979.

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

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Clear Lake’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people close to Clear Lake

See all 5 →
HLHenry A. LardyRoslyn · 15 miMyron FlorenMyron FlorenRoslyn · 15 miLeonard C. HansonLeonard C. HansonVeblen · 13 miLSLogan StorleyRoslyn · 15 miOWO. W. WilsonVeblen · 13 mi
By decade

Clear Lake, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Clear Lake is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Clear Lake has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Fort Sisseton in Fort, 8.2 miles away.

Clear Lake and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Clear Lake. Tap a dot.
Fort SissetonZoar Norwegian Lutheran ChurchRoslyn AuditoriumAndrew and Mary Stavig HouseSisseton SchoolSisseton Carnegie Library

Closest to Clear Lake

Fort SissetonFort · District8.2miZoar Norwegian Lutheran ChurchKosciusko · Building11.7miRoslyn AuditoriumRoslyn · WPA Era · Built 199914.5miAndrew and Mary Stavig HouseSisseton · Built 191615.2miSisseton SchoolSisseton · Building15.5mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Fort Sisseton’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Clear Lake?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Clear Lake’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Lake📜 Red Iron Lake📜 Lake City📜 Eden
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Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Clear Lake, SDView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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