Clear Lake

Clear Lake is near the south shore of Lavon Lake, twelve miles southeast of McKinney in southeastern Collin County. The community was also on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. In 1884 the United States government built and operated a distillery on the banks of nearby Clear Lake. The federal project attracted a small number of settlers to the area, and by 1890 the town of Clear Lake was established. A post office opened there in 1898, with Robert L. Palmer as postmaster; the office was discontinued sometime after 1930. For several years at the beginning of its existence the community was a principal provider of bois d'arc timber for Dallas, which experimented in using the wood to pave its streets. When Dallas abandoned the project, many residents left Clear Lake. Although located in the heart of the Blackland Prairie, the land surrounding Clear Lake was subject to seasonal flooding, which destroyed crops. The population of Clear Lake was estimated at seventy-five in 1910 and rose to 100 by 1914. From the 1930s to 1990 the estimated number of residents at the community remained at fifty, despite the construction of Lavon Lake in 1954.