CLEAR LAKE
- The township of Clear Lake lies in the second tier of townships from
the county line on the north and comprises all of government township 16 north, range 4 west. It was organized
in 1861 and took its name from the lake of that name in section 22. It is bounded on the north by Williams, on
the west by Springfield, on the south by Rochester and on the east by Mechanicsburg. The township is about
equally divided between prairie and timber, and is amply supplied with water, the Sangamon river running
through it diagonally from southeast to northwest. It is traversed by two, steam railroads, the Wabash and the
Gilman, Clinton and Springfield branch of the Illinois Central, also by the new electric road from Decatur. The
principal village is Riverton, which was originally laid out by John Taylor in 1837 under the name of J
amestown. It is the seat of an important coal mining industry, the first coal shaft in the county having been
sunk here by Mr. P. L. Howlett in the spring of 1866. Population of the township, including Riverton village -
3,071; population of the village - 1,511.