As an unincorporated community, Afton has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own but does have its own post office with the 49705 ZIP Code.

[1] Other nearby unincorporated communities include Legrand to the northeast, Fingerboard Corner and Tower to the east, and Indian River to the northwest.

The community is located within the Pigeon River watershed region, which is a tributary of the large Mullett Lake to the northwest.

[8] The community was first settled under the name Ellisville as early as 1887 when Patrick O'Connor opened the first lumber camp along the Pigeon River in Ellis Township.

Cheboygan County, which was formally organized over 30 years earlier, was experiencing a sudden growth in development during the region's lumber exploitation in the 1880s.

A post office began operating under the name Ellisville on April 22, 1905 with storekeeper Fred Bartholomew serving as the first postmaster.

[10] Around 1903, Afton was given a station along the Michigan Central Railroad and had a direct route south to the village of Wolverine and also connecting north to Mackinaw City.

The former stretch of US 23 running east of Afton would be turned over to state control and designated as a northerly extension of M-33.

[14][15] In July 1946, the main roadway through Afton would be designated as an eastern extension of M-68 in order to eliminate a gap in that highway's route.