The original name of Crystal Lake was Lake Madam de Farriet. Mr. LeRay, an early and influential settler of Jefferson County, upon seeing some of the beautiful lakes in the new territory, expressed the desire to name one of them after Madam de Ferriet. LeRay chose one of the smaller lakes with beautiful clear water. Madam de Farriet, a French exile who settled in the area around 1816, was a maid of honor to Marie Antoinette.

Asked how Crystal Lake came to have its present name, an older person whose father had known the lake all his life replied: “When I was a small boy my father told me of a hunter who had lost his watch in the water of the lake. In those days watches were not common and very expensive, and a great effort was made to recover the timepiece. It turned out to be no major task, though. As the hunter looked down through the water he could see the watch resting at the bottom of the lake with remarkable clarity.

Someone remarked that the water was crystal clear and I guess it went by that name from then on.” Not to mention Lake Madam de Ferriet is not an easy name to pronounce or remember.

Crystal Lake had one of the most popular beaches and campgrounds in the area.

The lake today is private without a public launch. The lake outlet is on the north side of the lake and flows to Mud Lake to the northwest.

Because of the privacy of Crystal Lake very little water quality information is publicly available. It is considered a class B lake appropriate for contact recreation such as swimming. It is mesotrophic lake meaning that there are moderate levels of biological productivity within the lake.