Elberta is a village in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 457 at the 2000 census. The village located in the east of Gilmore Township, on the south side of Lake Betsie, which is formed by the Betsie River before flowing into Lake Michigan. The village is on M-22 just south of Frankfort. M-168, one of the shortest state highways in Michigan, extends 0.95 miles from a junction with M-22 in downtown Elberta to the former Ann Arbor Railroad ferry docks in Elberta. Elberta was first settled in 1855 and incorporated as South Frankfort in 1894. It was renamed Elberta in 1911 for the local Elberta peach. The village's founder is said to be George M. Cartwright.