Sterling State Park and the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station are located within Frenchtown.

The Frenchtown area reflected the ethnicity of its first European settlers, French Canadians who took land along the banks of the River Raisin as early as 1784.

Around the same time, the Sandy Creek Settlement was founded near this by Joseph Porlier Benec.

[5] The United States acquired this area, which had been considered part of British Canadian territory after the Treaty of Paris (1783) settling the American Revolutionary War.

[10] At that time, the remaining area known as Frenchtown was reorganized as a township, encompassing much of the northern portion of the county which was the area from the River Raisin to the Huron River at Wayne County's southern border.

Additionally, the city of Monroe annexed pieces of the southern portion of Frenchtown several times.

As a result, the boundary between the current Frenchtown Charter Township and the city limits of Monroe is jagged.

The township is in eastern Monroe County and is bordered to the southeast by Lake Erie.

Small pieces of the township are organized into the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

The River Raisin serves as the boundary between Frenchtown and the city of Monroe for a short length near Lake Erie and then again further upstream for a small portion near the Custer Airport.

The southeast border of Frenchtown Township, as well as the rest of the county's Lake Erie shoreline, is at the lowest elevation in the state of Michigan at 571 feet (174 m) above sea level.