Editing Lake Crystal, Minnesota (section)

===Town founding and 1800s===
In June 1857, a town named Crystal Lake City was planned out on the southwest shore of Crystal Lake, but it failed to become reality. In October 1868, The Valley Railroad, later the [[Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway|Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Omaha]] Railroad, was completed in the area. The railroad, after looking for potential locations, choose Lake Crystal for a new station. And so Lake Crystal began along the railroad, and was [[plat]]ted by Robinson and Hunt in 1869.<ref name="history">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog | title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society | last=Upham | first=Warren | year=1920 | page=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n79 60]}}</ref> The railroads' engineer, General Judson W. Bishop of Saint Paul, named the town after nearby [[Lake Crystal (Blue Earth County, Minnesota)|Crystal Lake]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Chicago and North Western Railway Company|title=A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA180|year=1908|page=180}}</ref> A post office began operation in Lake Crystal in 1869.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MN&county=Blue+Earth&searchtext=&pagenum=2 | title=Blue Earth County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=April 4, 2015}}</ref> By December 1, 1869, the town had a grain elevator, hotel, schoolhouse, grocery, drugstore, hardware store, two general stores, harness shop, cooper shop, and a doctor's office.<ref name=":0">Lake Crystal Guide and Chamber Directory Lakeside Press  ©2008</ref> Lake Crystal was incorporated as a city on February 24, 1870.<ref name="history" /> Its first newspaper, ''The People's Journal'', started in March 1870.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://knuj.net/2019/01/02/lake-crystal-thursday-january-31/|title=Lake Crystal Day {{!}} KNUJ|last=sarah_knuj|date=January 2, 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref> The period between 1870 and 1895 is generally known as the “Wheat Era”; most local farmers used nearly all their cropland for wheat. Lake Crystal's economy was adversely affected by the grasshopper invasion of 1873, when millions of grasshoppers devoured all the crops. The plague lasted until June 1877, when the grasshoppers fled. It took years to recover; only in 1882 were good quantities of wheat again marketed at the local grain elevator. In 1879, the Elmore railroad line was completed, with Lake Crystal as a junction between this line and the old main line. This rail line connected Lake Crystal to [[Garden City, Minnesota|Garden City]], [[Vernon Center, Minnesota|Vernon Center]], [[Amboy, Minnesota|Amboy]], [[Winnebago, Minnesota|Winnebago]], [[Blue Earth, Minnesota|Blue Earth]], and [[Elmore, Minnesota|Elmore]]. No fewer than 23 trains passed through town each day. In 1882, land was purchased from the railway for $100 and a new, two-story brick schoolhouse was built.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blueearthcountyhistory.com/2019/03/29/lake-crystal-public-school/|title=Lake Crystal Public School|last=heatherharren|date=2019-03-29|website=Blue Earth County Historical Society|language=en-US|access-date=January 11, 2020}}</ref> This building was added onto in 1895 and 1905 and demolished in 1972.<ref name=":0" /> In 1885, a 16-man volunteer fire department was founded to combat several outbreaks of fire in the area. On September 20, 1887, a fire broke out at 3AM in the town's business block. A man was seen pouring gasoline throughout one of the buildings, then lighting it. Within a few hours the fire was under control; it was extinguished with the help of Mankato's Fire Department. This fire damaged and destroyed about seven buildings.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fire! Stories of Fires and Firefighting in Blue Earth County's Early Years|last=Sofchalk|first=Helen}}</ref> Also in 1887, All Angels Episcopal Church was built on the corner of Main and Howard Streets; it was torn down in 1964. In 1890 the United Methodist Church was built on the corner of Humphrey and Crystal Streets. In 1893 the Lake Crystal Boat Club built a boat pavilion at modern-day Robinson Park. The Boat Club also launched a [[steamship]], the ''New Era'', which is believed to have sunk near the lake's south shore.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of Blue Earth County|last=Hughes|first=Thomas|publisher=Chicago Middle West Publishing Company Publishers|year=1901}}</ref> Norwegian Lutherans built a church on the corner of Anna and Shepherd Streets in 1893, later renamed Zion Lutheran.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title=Lake Crystal Centennial Edition|date=June 18, 1970|work=Lake Crystal Tribune}}</ref> In 1894, the Graif Brothers Flour Mill was built, which marketed flour to [[Iowa]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Illinois]], and [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]]. By 1895 Lake Crystal had over 1,100 residents.<ref name=":0" /> In 1896, Catholics built their first church, on Humphrey Street.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Holy Family Catholic Church. Lake Crystal, Minnesota|last=Breiter|first=Cora}}</ref> In 1898, space was made for a new electric light plant between the Graif Flour Mill main building and engine room. Power-line poles also arrived and were installed along 16 streets. Lake Crystal received electricity in December 1898. The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church was constructed in 1899 on the corner of Prince and Crystal Streets.