Houghton, Michigan
Houghton Winter in Houghton, Michigan.
Winter in Houghton, Michigan.
Official seal of Houghton Location of Houghton, Michigan Location of Houghton, Michigan County Houghton Houghton (/ ho t n/) is a town/city in the U.S.
State of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and biggest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula.
It is the governmental center of county of Houghton County. It has been listed as one of the "100 Best Small Towns in America." Houghton is sometimes confused with, or thought to be close to, Houghton Lake; the latter is actually positioned in the state's Lower Peninsula.
Due to its locale in the northwestern portion of the Upper Peninsula, Houghton is isolated from the state's most crowded areas.
It is farther to drive from Houghton to Detroit than it is from Detroit to Washington, D.C.
It takes severaler hours to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin or Minneapolis, Minnesota from Houghton than it does to travel to Detroit.
Houghton, as its county, was titled after Douglass Houghton, an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. Panorama of Houghton from Huron Street from 1900-1906.
The Houghton County Courthouse is visible near the center of the photo.
Loading copper, Houghton, c - 1905 The landmark Douglass House in downtown Houghton was originally a hotel, but was converted into a different use building in the 1980s; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
existence [in the area] as early as the seventeenth century, [and in] 1772 Alexander Henry had prospected for copper on the Ontonagon River near Victoria." When Horace Greeley said, "Go West, young man" he was referring to the copper rush in "Michigan's Upper Peninsula." Many Cornish and Finnish immigrants appeared in the Houghton region to work in the copper mines; both groups have had a great influence on the culture and cuisine of the small-town area.
Smaller numbers of French-Canadian immigrants moved to Houghton, while more of them settled elsewhere in Houghton County. The last close-by mines closed in the late 1960s, but a school established in 1885 by the Michigan State Legislature to teach metallurgy and quarrying engineering, the Michigan College of Mines, continues today under the name of Michigan Technological University and is the major employer in the city.
The first known European settler of Houghton was titled Ransom Shelden, who set up a store titled Ransom's near Portage Lake, though it is unclear whether this was in the same building as the 1852 Shelden and Shafer drugs, sometimes described as "the first commercial building constructed in Houghton," which Shelden owned with his son Ransom B. The chief street of Houghton, variously called "Sheldon Avenue," (incorrectly) Sheldon Street, and Shelden Avenue, is titled for him.
Henderson was appointed the first postmaster of Houghton in 1852.
Houghton attained in importance as a port with the opening of the Keweenaw Waterway in 1873, the waterway being the cumulative dredging and extension of the Portage Lake, Portage Shipping Canal and Lily Pond so as to isolate the northern part of the Keweenaw Peninsula into Copper Island.
Pletschke platted Houghton, which was incorporated as a village by Shelden, C[hristopher] C[olumbus] Douglass and Capt.
Richard Edwards three years later. In Houghton's first days it was said that "only thieves, crooks, murderers and Indians" lived there.
The postwar boom and increasing demand for copper wiring fueled the evolution of Houghton in the 1860s and 1870s. By 1880 Houghton had turn into "a burgeoning city" and in 1883, the barns was extended from Marquette.
Houghton was the place of birth of experienced ice hockey in the United States when the Portage Lakers were formed in 1903.
Houghton is the home of the Portage Lake Pioneers Senior Hockey Team.
In the winter of 2001, Houghton was the site of one of the first lumitalos (Finnish temporary snow homes) to be constructed in the United States. On October 28, 2002, the first day of copy ceremony was held in Houghton for the "snowman stamps" issued by the United States Postal Service. One of the 2006 United States Postal Service snowflake stamps ("photographed in Houghton by Caltech physicist Kenneth Libbrecht using a digital camera and special microscope") was unveiled in Houghton. A pictorial postmark commemorating Winter Carnival 2007, "Ancient Worlds Come to Play in Snowy Drifts of Modern Day," was applied at the Winter Carnival temporary station in Michigan Technological University's Memorial Union Building, February 10, 2007 (see below).
Winter view of Hancock from Houghton athwart Portage Lake canal, Michigan This is a shot of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge that joins the metros/cities of Hancock and Houghton in Michigan The town/city is positioned on the south shore of Portage Lake, primarily "on rolling wooded hills" "less than a mile" athwart Portage Lake." from Hancock.
The town/city is bounded on the east by Portage Township and Pilgrim, on the west by Dakota Heights and on the south by Hurontown and Isle Royale Location, unincorporated communities that are part of Portage Township; and also on the west by Adams Township.
Houghton is titled after Douglass Houghton, discoverer of copper nearby.
Houghton is also the home of Michigan Technological University.
The town/city is served by Houghton County Memorial Airport.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 4.69 square miles (12.15 km2), of which 4.45 square miles (11.53 km2) is territory and 0.24 square miles (0.62 km2) is water. In the West Houghton neighborhood is West Houghton Park, including an outside ice rink and lawn tennis courts.
Along Portage Lake is the Raymond Kestner Waterfront Recreation Area, the principal feature of which is a large "Chutes and Ladders" playground; it also includes Houghton Beach.
Along the waterfront, in the region that used to be occupied by the barns tracks, runs the "flat, paved" Waterfront Trail for bikers and pedestrians; at one end of this is the Houghton RV Park, at the other end the Nara Nature Park and midway along this corridor is "Mattila Square". Prince's Point is also along this trail. Veterans Park is just athwart the Portage Lake Lift Bridge from Hancock, and contains the memorial to the Houghton Company, which fought in the Civil War.
Houghton is the command posts for Isle Royale National Park.
The Portage Lift Bridge joins Hancock and Houghton, Michigan, by crossing over Portage Lake, which is part of the river and canal fitness that crosses the entire peninsula.
Houghton has a humid continental climate but the (typically) long and snowy (due to lake-effect snow, with an average of 218 inches or 5.54 metres) winters make the town/city feel as though it is in a climate much further north.
It holds the distinct ion of having the third-most (behind Duluth and International Falls in Minnesota) maxima below 32 F or 0 C of any incorporated town/city in the adjoining US, with the top temperature failing to reach freezing on 100.9 days per year. It is sometimes said that Houghton has "two seasons: winter's here and winter's coming." While Houghton's winters may be the subject of humor, inhabitants take the subject of snow and winter very seriously.
Houghton is one of the premier "Winter Cities" found anywhere.
A "Winter City" is a improve that accommodates winter, jubilates it, and whose inhabitants generally appreciate the season by participating in a range of outside activities.
Houghton jubilates winter through the "Winter Carnival" organized by Michigan Tech every year in February. Houghton's summer climate tends to be especially pleasant, as hot temperatures are often moderated by the cool waters of the close-by Lake Superior.
Climate data for Houghton, Michigan, 1971-2000 normals, extremes 1887-present Every summer, the town/city of Houghton hosts a festival known as "Bridgefest", to memorialize the building of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge; this is often held in conjunction with "Seafoodfest". Every fall, the Parade of Nations takes place in downtown Houghton to memorialize the ethnic range of Michigan Technological University.
The Carnegie Museum, positioned in the former Portage Lake District Library building, contains photographs from the Raffaelli Historical Photo Collection, other artifacts on the history of the small-town area, a mural depicting the history of Houghton, Ontonagon, Baraga and Keweenaw Counties and exhibits of artwork.
The AE Seaman Mineral Museum, state mineral exhibition of Michigan, is positioned on the ground of Michigan Technological University. Houghton is often the host of winter sporting affairs, due to its long winters and many ski hills.
The 2006 Cross Country Skiing Junior Olympics took place in Houghton. The US National Championships for Nordic Skiing took place in Houghton in January 2007. In addition, the International Frisbee Tournament (IFT) takes place every year in Houghton and the roll-out of the distance affairs of the Keweenaw Chain Drive bike competitions of Houghton and Hancock takes place in downtown Houghton. Michigan Tech hosts a annual Winter Carnival in which thousands of visitors come to see snow sculptures assembled by members of fraternities, sororities, other student organizations, as well as a several improve groups, and participate in the seven-day celebration.
As part of Winter Carnival 2006, the town/city of Houghton and the college broke three world records: the biggest snowball, the biggest snowball fight, and the biggest number of citizens making snow angels in one place.
The Daily Mining Gazette (formerly The Mining Gazette) is a daily journal presented in Houghton.
Since Houghton and Hancock are very near each other, their combined region is often referred to as "Houghton-Hancock," though the suburbs are often fierce rivals, something especially manifested by the sports rivalry between Houghton High School and Hancock Central.
Tourism is a primary industry in Houghton.
In the city, the populace was spread out with 12.0% under the age of 18, 55.2% from 18 to 24, 15.3% from 25 to 44, 10.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older.
Students K-12 are served by Houghton Elementary (K-5), Middle (6-8), and High (9-12) Schools.
Houghton is also the home of Michigan Technological University.
M-26 joins Houghton southwest to US 45.
Houghton Motor Transit operates both a demand bus and a route bus throughout Houghton and in close-by parts of Portage Township; there are also evening trips to Mont Ripley in Ripley. Houghton is the port of departure for Isle Royale National Park. Cruise ships on the great lakes formerly (in the 1950s) used to incessantly stop in Houghton, but this is now an exceedingly rare occurrence.
Houghton is served by the Houghton County Memorial Airport, which has limited commercial service.
Houghton was formerly served by airship. A seaplane departs from Houghton to Isle Royale National Park.
Downtown Houghton, as seen from Hancock Houghton is generally said to be divided into East Houghton, the Central Houghton region (which includes the downtown) and West Houghton.
East Houghton runs from Franklin Square to the easterly town/city limits.
A principal street is College Avenue, characterized by Colonial Revival homes, which formerly ran from urbanized Houghton "farms, villas and quarrying operations...
And the Michigan School of Mines, now Michigan Technological University;" today the chief campus of MTU has taken over much of the College Avenue region and some of East Houghton generally, though it remains a primarily residentiary neighborhood.
The Chassell Sands, which are usually considered apart from it, are partially zoned "Industrial.") It is home to East Houghton Park.
Central Houghton is a mostly urbanized region of the town, generally considered as being roughly between Franklin Square and the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.
The "heart of Houghton's commercial district" is characterized by sandstone (frequently mined from Jacobsville or Portage Entry) buildings with the incessant "classical detail"; it is centered on Shelden Avenue, the downtown lying in Central Houghton between Montezuma Avenue and Lake Street / Brew Alley / Lakeshore Drive, which are generally considered one continuous street.
West Houghton is the site of more recent assembly compared to the other two neighborhoods.
The Houghton, Michigan micropolitan region is a statistical aggregation of the United States census agency.
Houghton figures in the novels A Superior Death and Winter Study by Nevada Barr and the Robin Hamilton mystery series by Nancy Barr. Much of Ander Monson's Other Electricities takes place in Houghton.
Comedian John Oliver also talks about Houghton in a February 2010 comedy show performed at Michigan Tech. "Houghton, Michigan 49931: Info - MI.com".
Houghton County 1870-1920 (MI) (Images of America).
"French-Canadian Genealogical Research in Houghton County, Michigan".
Eckert p.
"United States Postal Service Press Release: "Four Whimsical Snowmen Figurines Featured On U.S.
"Houghton puts its stamp on America".
The [Houghton, Michigan] Daily Mining Gazette.
"RV Park - City of Houghton".
"City of Houghton".
"Climatic Averages for the United States 1971 2000: HOUGHTON CO AIRPORT, MI" (PDF).
Gahagan, Kayla, "Mural in Motion," The [Houghton, Michigan] Daily Mining Gazette, p.1 "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".
Air ship, Houghton, near Amphidrome Wikimedia Commons has media related to Houghton, Michigan.
City of Houghton Historic Houghton Virtual Tour Hunts' Guide to the Upper Peninsula: Houghton Houghton Downtown Blueprint 2005 Municipalities and communities of Houghton County, Michigan, United States
Categories:
Cities in Michigan - County seats in Michigan - Cities in Houghton County, Michigan - Houghton, Michigan micropolitan region - Populated places established in 1854 - Houghton, Michigan
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