Lake Isabella, MI

Lake Isabella is a village in Isabella County split between Broomfield Township to the south and Sherman Township to the north. The 2020 census counted 1,829 residents. It was planned as a large recreational development in the late 1960s, with an 800-acre lake at the center of roughly 4,500 acres. The village incorporated in 1998 after residents wanted one local structure for roads, zoning, and the practical work of a place divided between two townships. The lake still sets the shape of the village: homes, launches, docks, camping areas, and association parks ring the water, while wooded roads run back toward Weidman and Mount Pleasant.

The Lake Isabella Property Owners Association manages much of the shared lake setting, and the village council handles municipal decisions. Lake Isabella's local scoop is a planned lake community whose whole identity is built around one big body of water, a township line, and the long effort to make a resort-style development function like a real village.