Welcome to Willow Lake ...
The city of Willow Lake is located in Clark County<1>.
The location of Willow Lake has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Willow Lake, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.
A typical abbreviation for Willow Lake: Willow Lk.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Willow Lake has a population of 242 people<3> (see below for details).
Willow Lake is 1,770 feet [539 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Willow Lake lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Willow Lake lies within the (605) area code.
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Willow Lake had an population of 242 people. This is a decrease of 7.98% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 17.69% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Willow Lake had a population of 263 people (or 7.13% of the total population of Clark County). This makes Willow Lake the county's 2nd most populous community.
The population of Willow Lake represents 0.03% of the population of South Dakota (which has 814,180 people), making it the state's 219th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 263 people, the population of Willow Lake decreased 10.54% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 294 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Willow Lake.
Communities Also Named Willow Lake ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 6 communities that are also named Willow Lake - they are located in Alaska, Georgia (2), Ontario, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Willow Lake.
Communities near Willow Lake ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Willow Lake.
- Success ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Clark
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
- Clark is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clark <5>
- De Smet
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Smet
- De Smet is located in Kingsbury County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,057 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for De Smet <5>
- Bryant
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Bryant is located in Hamlin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 457 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bryant <5>
- Henry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Henry is located in Codington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <5>
- Elrod
(18 miles [29 km] to the north) - Osceola
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Hazel
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
- Hazel is located in Hamlin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hazel <5>
- Manchester
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
- Manchester is located in Kingsbury County
- Estimated population in 2014: 65 people
- Merton ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Willow Lake. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Willow Lake.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Willow Lake. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willow Lake.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Willow Lake. See our Newspapers Page for Willow Lake.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Willow Lake ...
Looking for more information about Willow Lake? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Willow Lake, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Willow Lake.
Adding Willow Lake to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Willow Lake in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Willow Lake was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
We also found Willow Lake on a map titled Shell Oil Road Map for South Dakota (1949).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Willow Lake.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willow Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of South Dakota's counties, including Clark, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Willow Lake. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Willow Lake - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |