Home     Shadows   Crystal Isle Inn    Laun History              

 

A Brief History of Crystal Lake

This information was in the 1980 Crystal Lake directory.

 

In the year of 1875 all of the land surrounding our beautiful lake was owned by L. Willis and F. Gossling.

 

Whatever their water skiing ability was, or what the horsepower of the motors they used, could not be determined from our sources of information.  Perhaps the water skiers among us could picture gliding around our lake, cutting in close to shore, and receiving a volley of arrows from some Indian camp instead of the usual verbal blasts.

 

A change of ownership must have taken place in later years because in 1889 the records show the land around the lake as being owned by Ed. Slade and Fred La Budde.

 

Crystal Lake was one time known as Cedar Lake, but the name was changed about 1902 to avoid confusing it with numerous other Cedar Lakes in the state. It was named Ki-shig-ni-bis by the Indians of that era.

 

Nestled on the shore of Crystal Lake is some of the finest natural scenery in the area, but the earliest settlers saw no special attraction in the virgin body of water; their only interest was farming.  Few lakes anywhere have a lovelier setting, lying in the heart of the Kettle Moraine region of the country.  Of glacial origin, Crystal Lake is practically surrounded on all four sides by high bluffs, thickly grown with trees.  It looks as though a giant hand had scooped out a great hole in the earth and pumped it full of clear blue water.  It has no inlet, being replenished by springs bubbling up from the bottom, which makes it a lovely lake for swimming and water sports.

 

In the years of 1901 and 1902 right of way and track easements for an interurban railway were bought up by the Sheboygan, Elkhart Lake Railway and Electric Company to furnish the lake area with passenger service.  It came from Sheboygan to Elkhart Lake, by way of Crystal Lake, and gave Crystal Lake a big boost in vacationers and fun seekers.

 

The stopping point or station was located in the are now occupied by The Chalet and the Nautical Inn.