3 07, 2025

4th of July Fireworks

By |2025-06-09T11:12:05-05:00July 3rd, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on 4th of July Fireworks

Clear Lake knows how to celebrate the 4th of July with style! Our fireworks displays are top notch. They get bigger and better every year. One year in particular, a spectacular show was planned. In 1976, the county’s bicentennial of declaring our independence from England, the “largest and loudest” display so far was ready to [...]

26 06, 2025

July 4 in Clear Lake

By |2025-05-27T08:59:00-05:00June 26th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on July 4 in Clear Lake

Clear Lake’s long traditional 4th of July celebration began in 1856 and gets better every year. In 1913 J.H. Miller drove his miniature pony powered car down Main Street. The fire department’s first motorized truck made her debut in the 1917 parade. A car decked out in feathers and palm fronds glided through the streets [...]

23 06, 2025

The Clear Lake Coal Gasification Plant

By |2025-06-23T09:47:42-05:00June 23rd, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on The Clear Lake Coal Gasification Plant

Before electricity arrived in Clear Lake, homes and businesses had gas lighting. The gas came from burning coal in an oxygen deficient atmosphere, collecting the gas and “cracking” it (sending it through a water mist to increase luminosity), storing it in gas holders, then piping it out to customers. Clear Lake’s gas plant was located [...]

19 06, 2025

Comic fREADom

By |2025-05-21T09:04:52-05:00June 19th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Comic fREADom

Oh to be a kid again! Those endless summer days with no obligations contained all sorts of possibilities. A favorite memory is grabbing a comic book and lemonade and escaping to the fort made by the branches of the weeping willow. Kid heaven! In 1955, that heaven was under siege. The American Legion was questioning [...]

12 06, 2025

Swimming Clear Lake

By |2025-05-13T11:33:21-05:00June 12th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Swimming Clear Lake

Ahh… the cooling waters of Clear Lake on a warm summer day! How do you swim? Some people like to relax and lounge, others go gangbusters and exercise without sweating. It must have been great fun to slide into the water on the toboggan sleds at the Bath House! Some of us will remember the [...]

9 06, 2025

The Tornado of 1931

By |2025-06-09T11:08:37-05:00June 9th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on The Tornado of 1931

A tornado hit Clear Lake on August 27, 1931. It first touched down in Bayside where one person was killed in the Rist Cottage. It damaged the Bayside amusement park and destroyed the roller coaster there. The tornado followed the lake shore north, ripping the porches off of the Outing Club and destroying the White [...]

5 06, 2025

Outing Club

By |2025-05-13T11:30:24-05:00June 5th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Outing Club

As our seasonal Clear Lakers return to our charming lake town, one place will fill again with the sights and sounds of summer for the 130th year. The Outing Club, established in 1895, is thought to be Iowa’s  first cooperative housing structure. Community based but independently owned, the cottages that form the club are linked [...]

29 05, 2025

Kennedy Farms

By |2025-05-13T11:28:08-05:00May 29th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Kennedy Farms

How does your garden grow? With beets, carrots and onions all in a row? From early in the 1900’s to recently, Kennedy Farms in Clear Lake was Iowa’s largest vegetable grower. Sam Kennedy started the operation after realizing the value of the rich peat soil his land held. He worked hard and grew the business [...]

27 05, 2025

The Last Prairie Fire

By |2025-05-27T09:16:24-05:00May 27th, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on The Last Prairie Fire

My grandfather, Roscoe Miller (1908-1991) told me the story of the last prairie fire in the area. He lived several miles north of Clear Lake (see 1875 map). His grandparents were named Dawson and they were one of the first settlers in this area. It was early spring in 1915 and they could see the [...]

22 05, 2025

John Kopecky

By |2025-05-12T11:50:21-05:00May 22nd, 2025|Uncategorized|Comments Off on John Kopecky

John Kopecky, Clear Lake’s music man wore many hats. He was an accomplished musician, a talented instructor, a director and the father of Band Festival. That’s right, Band Festival is still going strong in Mason City but its roots are in Clear Lake. In August of 1932 there were 13 bands marching through the streets [...]

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