Carter Lake, Iowa

**Carter Lake** is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska. In 2020, 3,791 people lived there.

## History

Carter Lake is an example of the border irregularities of the United States. It is the only city in Iowa that is west of the Missouri River. In March 1877, a flood changed the course of the river 1.25 mi (2 km) to the southeast. The parts of the old river course, called Saratoga Bend, became an oxbow lake. It is named Carter Lake. After the creation of the lake, the place became a recreational area. It included "a boathouse at the foot of Locust street, hotels and club houses were numerous and the lake was the scene of many a pleasant rowing and fishing party."

In 1892, after a lot of litigation between Iowa and Nebraska, the Supreme Court of the United States said that Carter Lake is part of Iowa in _Nebraska v. Iowa_, 143 U.S. 359 (1892). The general rule is that state borders follow small changes in the course of a river. However, the Court said that an there's an exception when a river avulses one of its bends. In 1972, the Supreme Court made another ruling about Carter Lake when it ruled on a border dispute between the two states in _Nebraska v. Iowa_, 406 U.S. 117 (1972).

## Geography

Carter Lake is at  (41.292647, -95.913989).

The city is surrounded on three sides by Omaha, Nebraska, and on the fourth by the Missouri River.

The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

### 2020 census

The 2020 census says that there were 3,791 people living in Carter Lake. These people made up 1,438 households.

## Politics

The current mayor of Carter Lake is Ron Cumberledge. He was elected on November 7th, 2017.

## Other websites

- City of Carter Lake
- History of Carter Lake
- Edward F. Owen Memorial Library
- Carter Lake Elementary School
- Carter Lake Community Resource Center
- Carter Lake Preservation Society
- Carter Lake Weather
- Map showing history of Missouri River shifts at Carter Lake
- City-Data Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Carter Lake

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Carter Lake, Iowa
- **settlement type**: City
- **image skyline**: Carter Lake, Iowa City Offices.jpg
- **image caption**: City Office Building in Carter Lake, Iowa
- **image map**: Pottawattamie_County_Iowa_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Carter_Lake_Highlighted.svg
- **mapsize**: 250px
- **map caption**: Location of Carter Lake, Iowa
- **image map1**: Carter-lake-map.png
- **mapsize1**: 250px
- **map caption1**: U.S. Census Map
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Iowa, County
- **subdivision name2**: Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie
- **government type**: Mayor-council
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total km2**: 5.23
- **area land km2**: 4.65
- **area water km2**: 0.58
- **area total sq mi**: 2.02
- **area land sq mi**: 1.79
- **area water sq mi**: 0.22
- **population as of**: 2020 United States Census, 2020
- **population total**: 3791
- **population density km2**: 815.71
- **population density sq mi**: 2113.15
- **timezone**: North American Central Time Zone, Central (CST)
- **utc offset**: -6
- **timezone dst**: CDT
- **utc offset dst**: -5
- **elevation ft**: 974
- **postal code type**: ZIP code
- **postal code**: 51510
- **area code**: Area code 712, 712
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 19-11215
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **blank1 info**: 2393756