Crystal Lake

Sister cities

• Holzgerlingen

History

The City of Crystal Lake traces its origins to two communities established in the 1800s. Those communities were generally known as Nunda and Crystal Lake. In 1835, Ziba S. Beardsley came to the shores of the lake and commented that the "waters were as clear as crystal", thereby giving the lake its name. Ziba Beardsley continued south to Naperville. In February 1836, the first white settlers, Beman and Polly Crandall, and six of their ten children arrived from New York State, traveling to Crystal Lake in a covered wagon. Their original cabin was built near today's intersection of Virginia Street and Van Buren Street. Four of the Crandall children were born there. Najah Beardsley's family was the second to settle in the area; his grandson, William Beardsley, was the first white child born on the Crystal Lake prairie, on May 7, 1837. The town was first known as Crystal Ville. It was changed to Crystal Lake sometime before 1840. The area known today as downtown Crystal Lake was first called Dearborn and later, Nunda, from a location in New York where many settlers originated. The village of Dearborn was founded in the 1850s after railroads were extended through the area. The first train station was built in 1856, although it was pre-fabricated and shipped from Chicago on a flatcar. At that time, the central business district for the village of Crystal Lake was located on Virginia Street, about one mile (1.6 km) southwest of the railroad station. The railroad connected the people and industries of Crystal Lake and Dearborn to Chicago and the rest of the country. On October 7, 1868, Dearborn's name was changed to Nunda. The village was platted in 1868 by local surveyor John Brink, after whom a downtown street is now named. The village included the area now generally…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Crystal Lake has a total area of , of which (or 96.8%) is land and (or 3.2%) is water. In 2023, census data reported that Crystal Lake has a total area of 18.985 square miles (49.10 km2), of which 18.35 square miles (47.53 km2) (or 96.8%) is land and 0.613 square miles (1.59 km2) (or 3.2%) is water. As the largest city in McHenry County, Crystal Lake has three high schools and many distinct neighborhoods. Starting from the north of the city, the ten largest neighborhoods are easy to trace out. The first has no de facto name like the others, but is referred to as "by Prairie Ridge," referring to the nearby high school of the same name. Houses in this neighborhood are large and widely spaced. The entire area lies just to the north of the city, from the downtown area to the adjacent community of Bull Valley. Some of the communities include Deer Wood, Covered Bridge Trails, and Walk-up Woods. Next is downtown Crystal Lake, which surrounds Crystal Lake Central High School. Houses here range significantly in size and age, and it is the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Directly south of downtown Crystal Lake is the Coventry neighborhood, named for the major through street, Coventry Lane. Students in the Coventry neighborhood attend either Central High School of Crystal Lake or Crystal Lake South High School. Oral tradition holds that Coventry was initially populated by pilots who flew out of O'Hare Airport. The neighborhood, Burtons Bridge, is located at the north-eastern side of Crystal Lake, adjacent to the Fox River. To the southwest of downtown Crystal Lake is the sprawling Four Colonies neighborhood, which covers nearly . Students from Four Colonies attend both Central and South High School. South of Four Colonies…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  21,653
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,856
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,372
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  20,042
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  18,758
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18,190
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,928
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,633

Largest nearby schools

• Huntley High School
  High · Huntley · 2,926 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• McHenry Community High School
  High · Mchenry · 2,222 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Harry D Jacobs High School
  High · Algonquin · 2,080 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Cary-Grove Community High School
  High · Cary · 1,494 students · 18:1 ratio
• Crystal Lake Central High School
  High · Crystal Lake · 1,470 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• Crystal Lake South High School
  High · Crystal Lake · 1,301 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Marlowe Middle School
  Middle · Lake in the Hills · 1,191 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Prairie Ridge High School
  High · Crystal Lake · 1,140 students · 16.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• M 3.1 — 2024-07-15
  2 km WNW of Somonauk, Illinois
• M 2.9 — 2015-03-25
  3 km WNW of Lake in the Hills, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2013-06-10
  4 km NNE of Virgil, Illinois
• M 3.8 — 2010-02-10
  2 km NW of Lily Lake, Illinois