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Aral

Ghost town · Benzie County, Michigan

Empire quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1957, 1:62,500)
Empire quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1957, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Aral is a ghost town in Benzie County, Michigan. It is one of 4 former communities in Benzie County on the federal names register. No county in Michigan has more among the 27 Michigan counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Aral as a historical populated place on the Empire topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 44.7622° N, 86.0748° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleEmpire
Elevation611 ft
Nearest living townEmpire, MI
Distance to it3.6 miles
GNIS feature ID1951744
Coordinates44.76222, -86.07482

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Aral is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Empire, MI (population 384), about 3.6 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 611 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Aral?

Aral is in Benzie County, Michigan, at 44.7622, -86.0748.

How many ghost towns are in Benzie County?

Benzie County, Michigan has 4 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.