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Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,010. It is the county seat of Houghton County6.
The city is located on the south shore of Portage Lake, primarily on the slope of a hill on the opposite side of the Portage Lake valley from Hancock. The city is bounded on the east by Portage Township, on the west by Dakota Heights and on the north by Hurontown, both unincorporated communities that are part of Portage Township; and also on the west by Adams Township. Houghton is named after Douglass Houghton, discoverer of copper nearby (though there is evidence indigenous peoples had mined copper in the area thousands of years before). Houghton is also the home of Michigan Technological University. The city is served by Houghton County Memorial Airport.
History
Many Cornish and Finnish immigrants arrived in the Houghton area to work in the copper mines; both groups have had a great influence on the culture and cuisine of the local area.
In the West Houghton neighbourhood is West Houghton Park. 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 area that used to be occupied by the railroad 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,"* Veterans Park is just across the Portage Lake Lift Bridge from Hancock, and contains the memorial to the Houghton Company, which fought in the Civil War. Houghton is the headquarters for Isle Royale National Park.
The area lends itself to a wide variety of outdoor sports, both winter (ice hockey, Nordic and Alpine skiing, figure skating, and snowmobiling) and summer (trail running, hiking, camping, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing and road and mountain biking).
The last nearby mines closed in the late 1960s, but a school founded in 1885 by the Michigan State Legislature to teach metallurgy and mining engineering, the Michigan College of Mines, continues today under the name of Michigan Technological University and is the primary employer in the city. MTU has a reputation for being a good value in education and attracting a lot of engineering and science students who like the outdoors.
The first known European settler of Houghton was named Ransom Sheldon, who set up a store named Ransom's near Portage Lake. The main street of Houghton, variously called "Sheldon Avenue," Sheldon Street and Shelden Avenue, is named for him. A number of downtown stores and restaurants on Sheldon Avenue and adjacent side-streets are connected by common doors, passageways and street overpasses, and collectively called "Sheldon Center."
William W. Henderson was appointed the first postmaster of Houghton in 1852.
In 1854, Ernest F. Pletschke platted Houghton, which was incorporated as a village in 1861. In Houghton's first days it was said that "only thieves, crooks, murderers and Indians" lived there.
In 1883, the railroad was extended from Marquette.
1909 saw the founding of what would later become Portage Lake District Library.
In 1913, there was a bitter strike of copper miners in the area that the police attempted to violently repress. The Michigan National Guard was called in after the sheriff petitioned the governor.
Houghton was the birthplace of professional ice hockey in the United States when the Portage Lakers were formed in 1899. Houghton is the home of the Portage Lake Pioneers Senior Hockey Team. The team's home ice is Dee Stadium, named after James R. Dee. Dee Stadium was originally called the Amphidrome, before it was severely damaged in a 1927 fire. (The stadium also contains a skatepark for skateboarding.)
In the winter of 2001, Houghton was the site of one of the first lumitalos (Finnish temporary snow houses) to be constructed in the United States.
Philatelic History
On October 28, 2002, the first day of issue ceremony was held in Houghton for the "snowman stamps" issued by the United States Postal Service. *Interesting facts
In the winter of 2006, the town of Houghton broke three world records, the largest snowball, the largest snowball fight, and the largest amount of people making snow angels in one place.
Every winter there is a celebration referred to as Winter Carnival in which tens of thousands of visitors come to see the snow sculptures and participate in the week long celebration that yields Michigan Tech students a break from homework.
The town is sometimes referred to by locals as "Hoton." This is even stenciled on city property. Since Houghton and Hancock are very near each other, their combined area is often referred to as "Houghton-Hancock".
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.8 km² (4.6 mi²). 11.2 km² (4.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (5.48%) is water.
Education
Public Education
The local school district is Houghton-Portage Township Schools, with William Polkinghorne as superintendent. Students K-12 are served by Houghton Elementary, Middle, and High Schools.Higher Education
Houghton is the home of Michigan Technological University.Culture
Every summer there is a festival known as "Bridgefest," to commemorate the building of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.
Every fall, the Parade of Nations takes place in downtown Houghton.
Transportation
Highways
State Highway M-26 and U.S.41, both go through the city.Public Transportation
Houghton Motor Transit operates both a demand bus and a route bus throughout Houghton and in nearby parts of Portage Township; there are also night trips to Mt. Ripley in Ripley.*Water
Houghton is the port of departure for Isle Royale National Park. Cruise ships on the great lakes formerly (in the 1950s) used to frequently stop in Houghton, but this is now an exceedingly rare occurence.Neighborhoods
Houghton is generally said to be divided into East Houghton, the Central Houghton area (which includes the downtown) and West Houghton.
- East Houghton is a primarily residential neighbourhood and is home to East Houghton Park. The park was established in 1974 and contains tennis courts and playground equipment. Some of the main campus of Michigan Technological University is located in East Houghton. The Chassell sands may be technically said to be part of this neighbourhood, but are usually considered as apart from it.
- Central Houghton is a relatively urbanized area of the town, generally considered as being roughly between Franklin Square and the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Many of the buildings from this area contain houses dating back many years, as this was the heart of the town in the copper-mining era of the Upper Peninsula. The downtown business district primarily comprises three streets running parallel East to West (Sheldon Avenue, Montezuma Avenue and Lake Street/Brew Alley/Lakeshore Drive considered one continuous street). Buildings in this area are categorized by their construction out of native sandstone. South of this area are a series of streets with small wooden houses rising over the arc of the hills that the city is built upon. Northward is the waterfront, which has several dockyards, and older buildings alongside it.
- West Houghton is the site of more recent construction compared to the other two neighborhoods. Therefore the area has a more modern, suburban feel to it than the other areas. This includes larger middle class houses built with large wooded lots between them. Most prominent in this area, however, are the retail stores which are becoming the new commercial heart of the city. These include Wal-Mart, ShopKo, and several recent strip malls, with numerous small stores housed under a single roof. Several prominent beach areas are located on this side of the city.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 7,010 people, 2,114 households, and 877 families residing in the city. The population density was 628.0/km² (1,625.5/mi²). There were 2,222 housing units at an average density of 199.1/km² (515.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.24% White, 1.87% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 6.79% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. 0.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.There were 2,114 households out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.6% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 58.5% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population 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. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 160.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 173.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $21,186, and the median income for a family was $41,779. Males had a median income of $36,161 versus $28,639 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,750. About 20.3% of families and 36.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.9% of those under age 18 and 18.2% of those age 65 or over.
Micropolitan area
The Houghton, Michigan Micropolitan area is a statistical aggregation of the United States census bureau.See also: Pryor's Location, Michigan, List of cities on stamps
External links
References
- Maki, Wilbert, "Hockey finals here?" (letter to the editor), The Daily Mining Gazette, January 27, 2001.
Cities in Michigan | County seats in Michigan | Houghton County, Michigan
"Houghton, Michigan"