From the Sioux and Winnebago Indians and pioneer settlers to the famous speakers on the Chautauqua national circuit, Clear Lake, Iowa has a colorful history.  Knowledge of the past encourages responsible citizenship, a deeper understanding of current events and an inspiration for creating the next chapters of history.

The Clear Lake Historical Society mission is to collect, preserve, protect and provide information from early area history to the present, on the natural and human environment of our corner of the universe.

Welcome to an introduction to Clear Lake, Iowa's colorful history! 

Clear Lake: the Earliest Images 1870's and 1880's & Grant Wood's Clear Lake Summer by Paul Juhl for sale now...

Many unique photos and stories of Clear Lake are featured in the book Clear Lake: the Earliest Images 1870's and 1880's by Paul Juhl.  There are over 100 illustrations in the book, many from Juhl’s personal collection of vintage stereographic slides created by early Clear Lake photographers.  The author has done extensive research for the text that accompanies these illustrations.  The result is many lively stories about early Clear Lake on such topics as the Camp Grounds, parks, the beach and boating, early homes and families, churches, hotels and businesses.

Grant Wood’s Clear Lake Summer by Paul Juhl is a 52-page pamphlet that tells of the famous Iowa artist’s connection to Clear Lake during the summer of 1941.

Patterned after the spiral bound souvenir vacation booklets of the late 1930s and 1940s, it contains color reproductions of the two final oil paintings of Grant Woods’s life (“Spring in Town” and “Spring in the Country”), both of which were completed in Clear Lake at his depot studio on North Shore Drive.  

This fascinating booklet also contains a reproduction of December Afternoon, which was completed that same summer.  The booklet is filled with photographs of both Grant Wood and his secretary, Park Rinard, a 1928 graduate of Clear Lake High School.   

The John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation provided a grant to fund the printing of both books.  Proceeds from the sale of the books are used to fund the development of the Clear Lake Public Library’s local history collection.  Clear Lake: the Earliest Images 1870's and 1880's costs $18 and Grant Wood’s Clear Lake Summer costs $15. Both are available for sale at the Clear Lake Public Library, Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and the Clear Lake Mirror-Reporter.  

Mail orders for either book should be sent to the Clear Lake Public Library, 200 North 4th Street.  Please add $3 to mail orders.