Loomis is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Isabella County in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The population of the CDP was 194 at the 2020 census. The community is located within Wise Township, and is also located within the

Isabella Indian Reservation The Isabella Indian Reservation is the primary land base of the federally recognized Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation, located in Isabella County, Michigan, Isabella County in the central part of the U.S. state of Michigan. The tribe also has some ...

, home to the federally-recognized

Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan () is a federally recognized band of Chippewa (a.k.a. Ojibwe) located in central Michigan in the United States. The tribal government offices are located on the Isabella Indian Reservation, near the city ...

History

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 The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad (F&PM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the U.S. state of Michigan between 1857 and 1899. It was one of the three companies which merged to become the Pere Marquette Railway. Early history The F&PM was ...

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 township A survey township, sometimes called a Congressional township or just township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System and by Canada's Dominion Land Survey is a nominally-square area of land that is nominally six survey miles (a ...

s in the northeast portion of the county. Located about north of Mount Pleasant, the community grew quickly. In 1877, Loomis recorded a population of around 350 and included several sawmills, general stores, churches, and two hotels. During the height of the lumber and railroad industry, the area population may have been as high as 800. The railway served the community until about 1960 when the lines were removed. With the expansion of

U.S. Route 10 U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the U.S. Despite the "0" as the last digit in the number, US 10 is no longer a cross- ...

in the early 1960s, the highway bypassed Loomis to the north, which prevented any direct traffic to the dwindling community. In 1970, Loomis may have had as few as 15 families, a gas station, the market, and the town hall. The oldest structure in the community is Patrick Holden's hotel, which was one of the original structures when the community was settled in 1871. The structure remains and is now a market and antique shop. At the 2010 census, Loomis was listed as a new

and recorded a population of 213. The Loomis post office is no longer in operation, and the community is served by the

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

48617 ZIP Code.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Loomis CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (0.71%) is water. U.S Route 10 passes through the community and is accessible via Loomis Road exit 98. The Pere Marquette Rail-Trail passes through the community along the former railway line. The community is also within the boundaries of the

. The community is served by Clare Public Schools, which is located to the northwest in the city of

Demographics

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Isabella County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Isabella County, Michigan Populated places established in 1871 1871 establishments in Michigan