A history of Frankfort,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Frankfort from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Father Jacques Marquette, one of the first Jesuit missionaries to the Great Lakes Indians, may have died and been buried in Frankfort in May 1675. Very limited and inexact records make the death site a matter of considerable debate among historians. Frankfort is one of two locations attributed as the death site by the natives since the earliest settlers arrived in northern Michigan and one of at least two sites claimed by historians. In any case within two years the remains were taken to the church at St. Ignace and given a traditional Indian burial.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Frankfort’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewEast Shore Hotel, Frankfort, Mich…, c. 1930: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Frankfort
See all 4 →
Frankfort, decade by decade
1980s
CommonsTank Hill2019
CommonsMarket Square Park 2019 May 182019
CommonsLake Michigan2015
CommonsOver looking2013
CommonsOver looking Frankfort - panoramio (1)2013
CommonsLittle Free Library2013
CommonsFrankfort Land Co. House2013
CommonsLaunch at Green Point2009
CommonsReady set GO2008
Commons4 of July 20082008
CommonsSunset at Greenpoint2007
CommonsMIMap-doton-Frankfort20054 historic places in Frankfort
4 places in Frankfort are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier, which fewer than 3% of listings reach.
Where they are
When they were listed
LandmarkListed 1990City of Milwaukee
Listed 1995Frankfort Land Company House
Listed 1997Navigation Structures at Frankfort Harbor
Listed 2005Frankfort North Breakwater LightThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as East Shore Hotel, Frankfort, Michigan, island comfort -- inland convenience (89524) (c. 1930) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (14) and the Library of Congress (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.