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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

Frankfort within Benzie County

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

Population over time

2 figures

Frankfort 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.

YearPeople Change
20101,286
20201,252-34 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

7 since 2001

Regional 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/undetermined3
Debris and open burning2
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
13 August 2001Debris and open burning3.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 May 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
30 May 2018Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesFRANKFORT-ELBERTA VFD 0000031 - 2018
27 May 2006Debris and open burning5.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 April 2004Power generation/transmission/distribution7.6 acresSleeping Bear Dunes National LakeshoreBANCROFT
15 April 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesFRANKFORT-ELBERTA VFD 0000036 - 2019
25 March 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesFRANKFORT-ELBERTA VFD 0000026 - 2019

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Benzie County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Benzie County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Walter Rohn PropertySilicaProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Benzie County

Storms near this place

12 since 1993

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2003Thunderstorm WindFrankfort$15,000A 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 2016Thunderstorm WindFrankfort$9,000Several trees and a few power lines were downed.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindFrankfort$8,000Trees down on M-22 near Sutter Road, and on the Crystal Downs golf course.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindFrankfort$6,000Multiple trees and power lines were downed.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindFrankfort$5,000Local media reports multiple trees and powerlines down in the city of Frankfort. Reports confirmed by emergency manager.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindFrankfort$1,000Four 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 2025Thunderstorm WindFrankfort-Multiple trees reported down in the vicinity of Frankfort, MI, including South Shore Rd.
September 2003HailFrankfort-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 2003Thunderstorm WindFrankfort-Trees were downed along M-22.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindFrankfort-Several trees and power lines down.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindFrankfort-Numerous trees down.
April 1993HailFrankfort-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Benzie County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Elberta1.1 miles10
Pilgrim2.2 miles11
Crystallia2.8 miles11
Chimney Corners Resort4.1 miles11
Oberlin (historical)4.2 miles11
Watervale5.6 miles10
Benzonia7.2 miles11
Beulah7.6 miles10

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 FrankfortAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2228882The 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.