Frankfort, Michigan
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Frankfort City. It lies in ZIP code area 49635. It lies near Tank Hill. The Survey maps it on the Frankfort quadrangle. 1,252 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 633 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Frankfort
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 4 records
Frankfort Land Company Houselisted 1995
Frankfort North Breakwater Lightlisted 2005
Navigation Structures at Frankfort Harborlisted 1997
Point Betsie Light Stationlisted 1984
Population over time
2 figuresFrankfort fell from 1,286 to 1,252 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,286 | |
| 2020 | 1,252 | -34 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Manitowoc quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Frankfort quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Manitowoc quadrangle1:250000
- 1976 USGS Frankfort NW quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Frankfort quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Crystal Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
7 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Frankfort between 2001 and 2019, burning about 21 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 August 2001 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 May 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 May 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | FRANKFORT-ELBERTA VFD 0000031 - 2018 |
| 27 May 2006 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 April 2004 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7.6 acres | Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore | BANCROFT |
| 15 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | FRANKFORT-ELBERTA VFD 0000036 - 2019 |
| 25 March 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | FRANKFORT-ELBERTA VFD 0000026 - 2019 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Frankfort: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Silica, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzie County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Walter Rohn Property | Silica | Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
12 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Frankfort in 12 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | $15,000 | A 70 mph gust was measured at the Coast Guard Station on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Numerous trees and tree limbs were downed in Frankfort. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | $9,000 | Several trees and a few power lines were downed. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | $8,000 | Trees down on M-22 near Sutter Road, and on the Crystal Downs golf course. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | $6,000 | Multiple trees and power lines were downed. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | $5,000 | Local media reports multiple trees and powerlines down in the city of Frankfort. Reports confirmed by emergency manager. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | $1,000 | Four funnel clouds were sighted by a Coast Guard Vessel, over water, along the shoreline between Frankfort and the Point Betsie Lighthouse. Trees and power lines were reported downed by the wind along two miles of M22 east of the Point Betsie Lighthouse. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | - | Multiple trees reported down in the vicinity of Frankfort, MI, including South Shore Rd. |
| September 2003 | Hail | Frankfort | - | A strong upper level disturbance contributed to widespread thunderstorms. A large number of these produced small hail, though only one report of severe-criteria hail was received. Some waterspouts also occurred over nearby waters of the Great Lakes. |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | - | Trees were downed along M-22. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | - | Several trees and power lines down. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Frankfort | - | Numerous trees down. |
| April 1993 | Hail | Frankfort | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elberta | 1.1 miles | 10 | |
| Pilgrim | 2.2 miles | 11 | |
| Crystallia | 2.8 miles | 11 | |
| Chimney Corners Resort | 4.1 miles | 11 | |
| Oberlin (historical) | 4.2 miles | 11 | |
| Watervale | 5.6 miles | 10 | |
| Benzonia | 7.2 miles | 11 | |
| Beulah | 7.6 miles | 10 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Frankfort | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2228882 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 626407. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





