Let’s take a walk along Clear Lake. Starting at the north end of Lakeview Drive we enjoy the lake breeze as we approach the lovely Lady of the Lake. Her windows seem to wink as we pass on to the Seawall recognized on the Natural Register of Historic Places.(Thanks Beth Ann Schumacher) People are lingering [...]
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year 🎼🎤” How did that happen? Summer has moved with astonishing speed! It’s here again. Another year of school is upon us with all kinds of possibilities. Kids sporting new clothes will be posing for the first day of school photos, parents behind the camera smiling like Cheshire [...]
Summertime draws visitors to Clear Lake’s beautiful campgrounds. These days State Park (est. 1925) and McIntosh State Park (est. 1943) come to mind. These parks were just twinkles in Clear Lake’s eyes when our first campgrounds were booming. Perched on Mars Hill Drive in today’s DNR Park, the campgrounds were a popular destination. From the [...]
Old cars capture our imagination. We harken back to a simpler more refined era. But was it? The first cars required the owner to crank hard to get them to start. Many an arm fell victim to the crank. Without a windshield the riders shared their journey with insects and random birds. Winter presented new [...]
My grandfather once pointed out to me the location of McDowell’s Hill, a tall hill located approximately where the Chappell Clinic/One Vision building was at 217 7th Avenue North. This 1939 newspaper article reports that the Works Progress Administration partially leveled the area in the 1930s, and it was further leveled in 1939 to use as [...]
This weekend the popular Art in the Park will fill our park with beautiful, creative works of art waiting to be discovered by shoppers. This event has been a mainstay of the summer for many years. In early 1977, the Arts Council was organized. One of their first events was Art Sail held in 1978. [...]
Thanks to the local Historical Society, Clear Lake finally has its own history museum backed up by a history archives room at the public library (developed by H. Milton Duesenberg). These two resources are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to telling the full story. After reading just a sampling of their [...]
This weekend Clear Lake is holding another round of city wide garage sales. There will no doubt be some fantastic bargains to be found. In the late 1950’s and 1960’s Clear Lake merchants sponsored Ridiculous Days. And they were!! Competitions to be the most ridiculous were hard fought. Winners vowed to up their game from [...]
On days when sailboats race, our lake wears one her most picturesque faces. The first sailboat is believed to have launched before 1870. A craft named “Water Witch”, was built before the civil war for Mr Crowell. Many followed in a fleet operated by Oscar Stevens. A. H. (Lon) and D. H. Green were two [...]
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 [...]
