The town of Loomis sits in Isabella County’s Wise Township. It was settled in 1870 under the name ‘Butchel’ on the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad.

Loomis began as a lumber town, thanks to two men: one named Eurastus Loomis, the other named George Wise, whom the township was named after. With a sawmill, a general store, and help from a man by the name of E.F. Gould, the town of Loomis was on its way.

The post office opened in 1871, and Mr. Wise took the duties as first postmaster.

During Loomis’ heyday, the town had a church, depot, a few general stores, hemlock extract factory, horse race track, two hotels, meat market, post office, two saloons, sawmill, schoolhouse, shingle mills, stagecoach line, and town hall.

The trains steadily came through Loomis, up to four a day. When the timber ran out and the lumber business declined, the trains stopped by the end of the 1950s.

The old schoolhouse is still there, sitting next to a storage facility. Down the street at  the old downtown intersection is the old hotel, which is now Pere Market & Antiques. Except those two structures, all the great old storefronts in the original business district are gone.....but if you drive around, explore, and look hard, you may be able to spot a few old original homes mixed in with more recent ones.

Take a roadtrip and explore many of our Michigan small towns and villages!

PHOTOS OF LOOMIS, MICHIGAN

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