The village was founded by T.J. and Mary Ratts when they built a store on their property.This was around the turn of the century.
Henry Ratts and his wife Rebecca moved from Davison County, North Carolina to Washinton County, Michigan in 1823. In the 1830s he bought land in Ashland Township Ephraim Ratts is on the Poll Tax list in 1842. The family may be from Holland, with the original spelling of Ratz.
There is no record of a post office in Rattsville. There was a general store east of the house, with a gasoline pump, a blacksmith across the road, a drug store, a telephone switchboard and a dirt racetrack
