Lakeport is on the western shore of Clear Lake,[7] at an elevation of 1,355 feet (413 m).

Lakeport was first settled by American Indians several thousand years ago.

At the coming of the settlers, the Kabe-napos, a subtribe of the Pomo people, lived here within their main village.

[8] The first business in Lakeport was established in 1855, trading goods to the local Indians in exchange for their wares and baskets.

It was William Forbes and James Parrish, however, who created the first shop in the main Lakeport area.

It was this investment as well as the land grant Forbes bestowed upon the county, which earned Lakeport its first name: Forbestown.

In 1850, Captain Nathaniel Lyon led an attack in the Bloody Island Massacre.

[9] The first post office, called Big Valley, opened at the site in 1858, and changed its name to Lakeport in 1861.

[10] In 1872, a sighting of the legendary "Monster of Blue Lakes" or "Devil Fish" caused Indians from all around to gather at Temescal to await an expected calamity.

In 1882, Black Bart robbed the stagecoach traveling between Lakeport and Cloverdale.

During this time period, over 450 Chinese immigrants were employed to work the area's quicksilver mines.

The Lakeport area is located on a sediment-filled valley adjacent to Clear Lake.

These sediments are poorly consolidated to unconsolidated mixtures of sand, silt, clay, and gravel derived from older rock in the adjacent mountains.

Because of the low strength of the quaternary sediments, they are subject to rapid erosion and shallow slumping.

[11] There is a potentially active rupture zone (defined as a fault that has been active during quaternary time – the last 2,000,000 years) existing immediately east of the City limits running parallel and adjacent to the shoreline of Clear Lake.

Within the past 200 years, no major potentially damaging earthquakes have occurred along any faults within Lake County, including the Big Valley fault adjacent to the eastern City boundaries.

Although shaking was severe, overall damage in Lakeport was comparatively minor and generally limited to the fall of decorative masonry and chimneys.

Lakeport, like all of the Clear Lake area, has hot, mostly dry summers and cool, wet winters.

Given the fact that the Lakeport area has an economy that is based somewhat on agricultural activities occurring in the Big Valley and Scotts Valley area which involve the growing and harvesting of food and nut crops as well as the increasing wine industry, there are a significant number of transient and seasonal farm workers.

Insufficient data is available to quantify the total number of seasonal or transient farm laborers that are living or working in the Lakeport area.

[18] Federally, Lakeport is in California's 4th congressional district, represented by Democrat Mike Thompson.