County note shelf
Isabella County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Isabella County. This shelf has 8 practical notes and 13 local stories.
21 notes
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- History and cultureThe Indian boarding school at the edge of Mount PleasantFrom 1893 to 1934 the federal government ran a boarding school in Mount Pleasant that took Native children from across Michigan and beyond; the surviving buildings now belong to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe.
- OutdoorsDeerfield Nature Park's four river bridgesThis Isabella County park has four Chippewa River crossings: Fisher Annex Covered Bridge, Lewis Pontiac Bridge, and two swinging bridges.
- History and cultureHow six townships became the Isabella ReservationTreaties signed in 1855 and 1864 set aside six Isabella County townships as a homeland for the Saginaw Chippewa, the reservation that still defines much of the county today.
- History and cultureThe lumberman who founded Mount Pleasant — but kept the pineTimber baron David Ward platted Mount Pleasant in 1860 and gave Isabella County its five-acre courthouse square — while shrewdly reserving every pine tree on the land for himself.
- History and cultureBeal City: a German Catholic colony west of Mount PleasantBeal City grew from a lumber camp into a tight-knit German Catholic farming community, anchored for 150 years by the parish now called St. Joseph the Worker.
- OutdoorsColdwater Lake Family Park: an all-sports lake near WeidmanIsabella County's Coldwater Lake Family Park sits on an all-sports lake near Weidman, with a sandy beach, nearly 100 campsites, rustic cabins, and accessible launches and walkways.
- OutdoorsPaddling the Chippewa River through Mount PleasantThe Chippewa River runs 91.8 miles through central Michigan, with county access at Majeske Landing, Deerfield Nature Park, and Meridian Park.
- History and cultureRosebush, the town that couldn't settle on a nameThe Isabella County village of Rosebush started out as Halfway, then bounced between Calkinsville and Rosebush for years before the name finally stuck in 1903.
- History and cultureShepherd's name followed the railroadThe Isabella County community began with a Salt River post office; the railroad station and post office later took Isaac Shepherd's name.
- History and cultureWinn, briefly Dushville, and the man his own sawmill killedThe Isabella County village of Winn was renamed Dushville in 1876 after a lumberman who ran three sawmills — all of which blew up, the last one killing him — and reverted to Winn after his death.
- History and cultureA college town with an oil-boom pastMount Pleasant is shaped by Central Michigan University, its oil-boom history, and the Chippewa River running through town.
- Home and propertyNo city income tax in Mount PleasantMount Pleasant has no city income tax — unlike East Lansing, which adopted one in 2019 — so wages earned in the CMU town see no city deduction at all.
- History and cultureThe Shepherd Maple Syrup FestivalShepherd's volunteer-run Maple Syrup Festival is a long-running spring tradition built around pancakes, local syrup, and community giving.
- Home and propertyBuying on a lake in Isabella CountyLakefront buyers in Isabella County should ask about lake boards, special assessments, lake levels, boat rules, and septic systems near the water.
- Home and propertyIsabella Wind and the Rural Home-Buying PictureIsabella Wind's 136 turbines cross six townships. For a buyer, the useful questions are tied to the exact parcel: leases, easements, views, sound, and local records.
- Home and propertyThe Isabella Reservation and your property taxesMost private fee land inside the Isabella Reservation is taxed normally; federal trust land is the key exception.
- Home and propertyOn a well and septic? Isabella requires an inspection before you buyIsabella County uses a mandatory time-of-transfer well and septic inspection for township properties with onsite systems.
- History and cultureThe Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, Soaring Eagle, and ZiibiwingThe Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Soaring Eagle, Ziibiwing, and the Tribe's living culture are central to Mount Pleasant.
- Money and taxesLive in a Michigan village? You pay an extra layer of property taxMichigan village residents usually pay village property taxes on top of township taxes, so the village boundary can change a buyer's total rate.
- Money and taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.