Early on, the town gained a reputation due to its lack of law enforcement and for being a rowdy and dangerous locale.

[5] The community grew as northerly rail traffic to Traverse City and Petoskey increased throughout the 1880s and 1890s.

In 1890, the local publisher, DeWitt Clinton Leach, built a dam on a creek southwest of Walton, and established a cranberry bog.

[7] In 1940, US Highway 131, which had originally run through the community, was shifted onto a newly constructed alignment east of town.

[8] Today, all that remains of Walton are a handful of residences and open plats.