CLEAR LAKE
(south of
Princeton on Lake Lavon)
PRINCETON AREA HISTORY AND
LITTLE KNOWN FACTS
INTERESTING HISTORY REGARDING
CLEAR LAKE COMMUNITY
Courier - Gazette, early 1940
By Noble Wright
Mr. Jim Donaldson, who has lived 73 years in southeast Collin
County, has seen and experienced many of the interesting events that have
occurred in Clear Lake community; he remembers when deer and black bear still
abounded there, he saw the construction of the gin and store for which he hauled
lumber, he has observed the lake for which Clear Lake is named dwindle in size
until it is a much smaller body of water than in the early days and today he is
anticipating the change that Lavon Dam will bring to Clear Lake community.
"When I was a small child my Father shot and killed a black
bear in a canebreak that was in Pilot Creek bottom. Later we caught the bears
cub and it was given to the storekeeper in Nickelville. Nickelville, was the
village that was the forerunner of Wylie. What little there was to Nickelville
moved to what became Wiley when the railroad came," Donaldson relates.
The store, which is no longer in operation, and gin at Clear
Lake were established in 1897. The store was established by Bob Palmer in the
spring of that year and in the fall of the same year Albert and Lem McCauley
built the gin for Bob and Joe Palmer. Mr. Donaldson hauled the lumber for the
gin from Nevada.
The highest flood that Donaldson recalls at Clear Lake was
when Pilot Creek went out of banks in 1913 and was up above the railroad trestle
east of the community.
"Strange to say there was no flood in the East Fork at this
same time."
"Many Indian bones and Indian relics were uncovered near High
Point Bridge two miles west of Copeville by this flood," recalls Donaldson.
Clear Lake got its name from the Lake nearby. This lake is at
present 1/2 mile long and 30 or 40 yards wide. The depth of the present lake is
around six feet at its deeper points.
Donaldson says that a Mr. John Harper who came to Collin
County in 1860 told him that the lake at Clear Lake had once been the channel
leaving the old river bed for what became known as Clear Lake.
Once in 1893 the lake dried up and Donaldson planted a turnip
patch there.
"Clearing of the land and improper cultivation is in my
opinion the cause of the lake's decrease in size," said Donaldson.
At one time there was a Government Distillery at Clear Lake.
The late P. Q. Russell, father of Will Russell of Clear Lake and the late Bob
Russell, was revenue agent in charge of the distillery.
Clear Lake Cemetery
Communities Index
- Recommended
citation:
"Clear Lake - Collin County
Communities," Collin County, Texas History and Genealogy Webpage by
Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc., <http://www.geocities/genfriendsghl>
[Accessed Fri February 13 13:37:28 US/Central 2004 ].
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