Afton…now and then, photo by smartee_martee.

Marty writes:

21 September 2008; Afton, Michigan.

The postcard is postmarked Sept 2, 1920.

Patrick O’Connor opened a lumber camp in Ellis Township in 1887. Ellisville was the name given to its first post office in 1905. It was asked to be renamed Afton, for that it was thought to resemble Afton in Scotland because of the Pigeon River flowing nearby. It was officially Afton on Feb. 12, 1906.

This photo is part of Marty’s amazing Overnight Photo Trip September 2008 (slideshow). He drove nearly 2000 miles through northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, chronicling small towns, hamlets and crossings.