The community was first settled as early as 1871 by Erastus Loomis, George Wise, and E. F. Gould, who built a sawmill and a general store. The same year, it received a train depot along the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad and also received a post office under the name Buchtel on May 1, 1871. Wise served as the first postmaster. The post office was renamed to Loomis on December 8, 1871. When the area was organized as a new township on January 24, 1872, it was named Wise Township. The community first appeared on an 1873 map of Isabella County, in which Wise Township then occupied two survey townships in the northeast portion of the county.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
