Lake Crystal is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States, established in 1869.[5] The population was 2,549 at the 2010 census.[6] It is part of the Mankato–North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area.

In 1853, two families from small towns near Ithaca, New York, left their homes and traveled west. One was 32-year-old William Riley Robinson. In June 1854 Robinson and his companion Lucius O. Hunt traveled from Wisconsin to Blue Earth County. Robinson and Hunt arrived and came upon the three nearby lakes, Loon, Crystal, and Lily, and marveled at their beauty. They returned for their families and headed back to settle in the Lake Crystal area. The families were joined by two other men and their families, Calvin Webb and Samuel Thorne. Robinson and his family settled in a log cabin on the south shore of Crystal Lake, a few feet south of where the Robinson House is today. Hunt and his family settled in a log cabin on the south shore of Lily Lake, where Holy Family Catholic Church is now. Each man took plots of land one mile long and half a mile wide (the dividing line being modern-day Main Street), the deeds to which were signed by President James Buchanan. Webb settled in the Judson Township, while Thorne took a claim on Crystal Lake. The local natives were great beggars who kept tabs on the newcomers. The Sioux even continued to hold their tribal dances in the Grove on Crystal Lake, now Robinson Park. One day, Mrs. Robinson was trying to put her baby to sleep while a native chief, Standing Buffalo (Tatanka-Najin) and his friends were making loud yelps. After the natives made a frightening yelp, she grabbed a whip and almost struck Standing Buffalo. The whip missed, and Standing Buffalo gave her a nasty look and calmly walked away. If Mrs. Robinson had hit him, the settlement would most likely have been massacred. In August 1862, William Robinson was awakened early one morning by a knock at his door. It was an old Native American friend of his and several other natives in war paint. They told him and his family to leave the settlement, as the people there and of the surrounding territory were to be massacred. The natives also warned to not tell anyone, especially Hunt, as Robinson’s Native friend wanted to scalp him personally. Days passed, and Robinson noticed an absence of natives in the area. He sneaked into a nearby camp and learned that everything his native friend had said was true. Robinson began to warn the settlement, who all escaped to the fort at Mankato. The natives discovered the settlement empty, and, in a rage, burned it. Eventually the Native uprising was subdued and the settlers returned and rebuilt their homes. Hunt built a brick house in 1869 that was torn down in the mid-1900s, where Holy Family Catholic Church is today. Robinson built his brick house in 1870, which still stands as a historical building on Robinson Street.[7]