Clear Lake is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States.

[3] In 1851, Joseph Hewitt and James Dickirson brought their families to camp on the east side of Clear Lake, soon building a cabin, and began a friendship with the Winnebago natives.

By the year 1855, the first Clear Lake school was built as well as the first steam saw mill.

[3] By 1870, the town had 775 residents and by 1871 the streets were graded and sidewalks were made of raised boards, sure signs of a thriving new city.

[3] In the early hours of February 3, 1959, a Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, who had been performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, took off from the local runway in nearby Mason City, on its way to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.

The plane crashed soon after take off, killing everyone aboard including the 21-year old pilot Roger Peterson.

The event was later eulogized by folk singer Don McLean in his 1971 song "American Pie", which led to the crash being nicknamed "The Day the Music Died".

[6] Clear Lake, Iowa has a hot/warm summer humid continental climate (Dfa).

Clear Lake is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Clear Lake is located along Interstate 35 approximately halfway between the Twin Cities and Des Moines, Iowa.

U.S. 18 proper continues to the south, overlapping an approximately 3.5-mile stretch of Interstate 35 and Iowa Highway 27 (part of the Avenue of the Saints).

[21] Mason City Municipal Airport is located immediately to the east of Clear Lake.

Progressive Rail maintains the Iowa Traction Railway, a shortline railroad which runs between Clear Lake and Mason City.

[23] The city's electric power and natural gas utilities are provided by Alliant Energy.

[24] Since 2004, Alliant Energy has operated a natural gas—fired electricity generation plant southeast of the city.

Wastewater travels through pump stations within the city before being routed to a treatment plant to the south.

Some of the resulting treated effluent is routed to the nearby Alliant Energy plant for cooling purposes.

The city's water is drawn from shallow wells in the Cedar Valley Formation.

[31] MercyOne Medical Center North Iowa[32] in neighboring Mason City is the nearest hospital.