John Jones, Jr. and his family first settled in the area as early as 1872 along the shores of Bear Lake (now known as Walloon Lake). Jones organized for the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad to build through the area in 1874. The community received a train depot named Melrose, which was named after early local surveyor Mel Rose. The township itself also adopted the name Melrose, but members of the community applied for a post office named Bear Lake. However, there was already a Bear Lake post office in Michigan. The community received a post office under the name Tolcott on October 19, 1897 with Frank Jones serving as the first postmaster. It was respelled to Talcott on March 4, 1899 and ultimately renamed Walloon Lake on September 22, 1900.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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