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County · code 18089

Lake CountyIndiana

Lake County is a county in Indiana with its seat in Crown Point. The county was created on February 1, 1836, and is named after Lake Michigan.

  • Founded1836
  • County seatCrown Point
  • Named forLake Michigan
  • Land area499 sq mi + 128 sq mi water
  • Population498,700 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped244,327 checked 15 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Lake County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

PorterCook, ILNewtonJasperWill, IL Crown Point Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Lake on the map of Indiana

Indiana has 92 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.

Adams CountyAllen CountyBartholomew CountyBenton CountyBlackford CountyBoone CountyBrown CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyClark CountyClay CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDaviess CountyDearborn CountyDecatur CountyDeKalb CountyDelaware CountyDubois CountyElkhart CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFountain CountyFranklin CountyFulton CountyGibson CountyGrant CountyGreene CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHarrison CountyHendricks CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHuntington CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJay CountyJefferson CountyJennings CountyJohnson CountyKnox CountyKosciusko CountyLaGrange CountyLaPorte CountyLawrence CountyMadison CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMartin CountyMiami CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMorgan CountyNewton CountyNoble CountyOhio CountyOrange CountyOwen CountyParke CountyPerry CountyPike CountyPorter CountyPosey CountyPulaski CountyPutnam CountyRandolph CountyRipley CountyRush CountySt. Joseph CountyScott CountyShelby CountySpencer CountyStarke CountySteuben CountySullivan CountySwitzerland CountyTippecanoe CountyTipton CountyUnion CountyVanderburgh CountyVermillion CountyVigo CountyWabash CountyWarren CountyWarrick CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWells CountyWhite CountyWhitley CountyLake County Lake
Counties of Indiana · Lake highlighted

History

Formed in 1836 from Porter County, Newton County, St. Joseph County and White County

An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.

Lake County was created in 1836 from parts of Porter, Newton, St. Joseph, and White counties, and was initially attached to Porter for administrative purposes before being fully organized in 1837. The county's boundary over Lake Michigan was adjusted in 1842 when its jurisdiction was restricted to land, then extended again in 1851 when the county line was extended to Indiana's northern boundary.

Boundary changes from the Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; the 5 that matter most are shown first.

  1. 1836
    Lake County created Lake created from Porter and from that part of Newton attached to St. Joseph and White; Lake not fully organized, not attached.
    from Porterfrom Newtonfrom St. Josephfrom White
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 18/p. 51
  2. 1836
    Changed Lake attached to Porter for administrative and judicial purposes.
    Porter
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 55/p. 84
  3. 1837
    Changed Lake fully organized, detached from Porter.
    Porter
    · Ind. Acts 1836, 21st sess., gen., ch. 3/p. 55
  4. 1842
    Lost territory Lake lost to non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when its jurisdiction was restricted to land. · Ind. Rev. Stat. 1843, ch. 2, secs. 2, 26, 28-31, 36-37, 42-44, 61, 67, 77, 80-82, 85-86/pp. 68, 74-81, 84, 86, 88-89
  5. 1851
    Gained territory Lake gained from non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when the county line was extended to the northern boundary of Indiana. · Ind. Acts 1850, 35th sess., gen., ch. 35/p. 58
Show all 9 changes (4 more, mostly small adjustments)
  1. 1836
    Lake County created Lake created from Porter and from that part of Newton attached to St. Joseph and White; Lake not fully organized, not attached.
    from Porterfrom Newtonfrom St. Josephfrom White
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 18/p. 51
  2. 1836
    Changed Lake attached to Porter for administrative and judicial purposes.
    Porter
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 55/p. 84
  3. 1837
    Changed Lake fully organized, detached from Porter.
    Porter
    · Ind. Acts 1836, 21st sess., gen., ch. 3/p. 55
  4. 1838
    Boundary clarified Northern boundary of Newton was redefined, which would have created a dispute with Lake, but change never took effect; corrected 11 February 1839.
    with Newtonno change
    · Ind. Acts 1837, 22d sess., loc., ch. 61, secs. 41, 48, 50, 52, 64-66, 70-71, 75-78/pp. 241-266; Pence and Armstrong, 406
  5. 1839
    Boundary clarified Boundary between Lake and Newton was redefined, correcting mistake of 17 February 1838 (no change).
    with Newtonno change
    · Ind. Acts 1838, 23d sess., gen., ch. 53/p. 68
  6. 1839
    Boundary clarified Lake boundaries were redefined (no change).
    no change
    · Ind. Acts 1838, 23d sess., gen., ch. 56/p. 70
  7. 1842
    Lost territory Lake lost to non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when its jurisdiction was restricted to land. · Ind. Rev. Stat. 1843, ch. 2, secs. 2, 26, 28-31, 36-37, 42-44, 61, 67, 77, 80-82, 85-86/pp. 68, 74-81, 84, 86, 88-89
  8. 1851
    Gained territory Lake gained from non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when the county line was extended to the northern boundary of Indiana. · Ind. Acts 1850, 35th sess., gen., ch. 35/p. 58
  9. 1923
    Changed Southern boundary of Lake along Kankakee River was adjusted to match ditching of streambed. · Ind. Acts 1923, 73d sess., reg., ch. 164, secs. 1-3/pp. 464-465

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Lake

Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.

Official
from the office that keeps the record
Good enough
a reliable statewide or national copy
Fallback
a guide only; check the official record
Missing
nothing public found yet

People and land

Lake by the Census

Population
498,700 2020 Census count
Housing units
214,775 2020 Census count
Land area
499 square miles
Water area
128 square miles
People per sq mi
1,000 population ÷ land area

Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Rules and offices

Who to ask before you build, dig or sell

Official county pages only. We link to them; we do not copy them, because they change.

Inside a city or town, permits usually come from that city rather than the county.

Zoning and code

County government

See your own lot on these maps

Open Lake County on Parcel Chart's free map and click your parcel. Save it with a free account; the full record of your place (site map, projects, documents) is Pro, in early access.

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Questions

Common questions about Lake County

When was Lake County founded?
Lake County was founded in 1836, formed from Porter County, Newton County, St. Joseph County and White County, and named after Lake Michigan.
What is the county seat of Lake County?
The county seat of Lake County is Crown Point.
Is there an online parcel map for Lake County?
Yes. Indiana Geographic Information Office (IndianaMap) publishes a parcel map of 244,327 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Lake County's boundary or name changed?
Lake County was created in 1836 from Porter County, Newton County, St. Joseph County and White County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 5 later changes, most of them small boundary adjustments, chiefly involving Porter County.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Lake County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.

Nearby

Counties next door