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AHistory
History · Houghton

Houghton’s post office opened in 1846, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #71 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 43 buildings. Below: 22 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1860.

1846first post office
8on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
22old photos & papers
17famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Houghton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Houghton began

When was Houghton founded?

1846

The Houghton post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1854.

First census: 2,157 in 18602020 census: 8,386180 years

How historic is Houghton?

A

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Houghton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Houghton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Houghton is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #71 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Houghton’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194018.3% of homes (±5.7) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register8 listings, 50 historic buildings, 59.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 90%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Houghton’s 59.0 sits above most of its state (91% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1854.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Houghton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1960, then more than doubled.A town in old photos22 old photos, postcards and papers, 1883–1910.A historic districtThe Shelden Avenue Historic District takes in 43 historic buildings.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1888 to 1917, drew every building in Houghton.
★ What stands out · People over time

Houghton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001900195020005,113 in 1910Low: 3,393

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1960, then more than doubled.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Houghton’s Wikipedia page.

By decade

Houghton, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s21 items
SHELDEN-Ransom1883SHELDEN-RansomCopper for Shipment, Houghton, Mich1898Copper for Shipment, Houghton, MichPortage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, Mich1898Portage Lake, Hancock-Houghton, MichHoughton, Michigan panorama c19001900Houghton, Michigan panorama c1900Michigan-smelter-pano-c1900-19061900Michigan-smelter-pano-c1900-1906Michigan School of Mines (Michigan Technological University)1900Michigan School of Mines (Michigan Technological Univ…Chemical laboratory, Michigan School of Mines [i.e. Michigan Technological University]1900Chemical laboratory, Michigan School of Mines [i.e. M…Copper for shipment1900Copper for shipmentPortage Lake, Hancock, and Houghton, Mich., from the west1900Portage Lake, Hancock, and Houghton, Mich., from the …Loading copper, Houghton, Michigan, c1905c. 1905Loading copper, Houghton, Michigan, c1905Picked up on Lake Superior by S.S. Juniatac. 1905Picked up on Lake Superior by S.S. JuniataLoading copper on steamer1905Loading copper on steamerCopper for shipment, Houghton, Mich. 1c. 1906Copper for shipment, Houghton, Mich. 1Copper for shipment, Houghton, Mich. 2c. 1906Copper for shipment, Houghton, Mich. 2Str. Martin Mullen, Pioneer Steam Ship Co. , coaling, Houghton, Michc. 1906Str. Martin Mullen, Pioneer Steam Ship Co. , coaling,…Michigan School of Mines, Haughton [i.e. Houghton], Mich1906Michigan School of Mines, Haughton [i.e. Houghton], M…Main building, Michigan School of Mines [i.e. Michigan Technological University]1906Main building, Michigan School of Mines [i.e. Michiga…Shelden St1906Shelden StCopper for shipment1906Copper for shipmentStr. Martin Mullen, [Pioneer Steam Ship Co.], coaling1906Str. Martin Mullen, [Pioneer Steam Ship Co.], coalingDouglass [i.e. Douglas] House1908Douglass [i.e. Douglas] House
1910s1 item
Cirkut photo of Mining College, Houghten [sic], Mich1910Cirkut photo of Mining College, Houghten [sic], Mich
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the National Register

8 listings protect 50 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
50
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Houghton County Courthouse
Houghton County Courthouse, built 1887College Club House and GymnasiumRansom B. Shelden HouseShelden-Dee BlockDouglass House, built 1900Saint Ignatius Loyola Church, built 1898Shelden Avenue Historic DistrictJohn J. Michels House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Second Empire1
English Tudor Revival1
Queen Anne1
Neo-Classical Revival1
Italian Renaissance1
Late Victorian1
Houghton County CourthouseSecond Empire · Built 1887
College Club House and GymnasiumEnglish Tudor Revival
Ransom B. Shelden HouseQueen Anne
Shelden-Dee BlockNeo-Classical Revival
Douglass HouseItalian Renaissance · Built 1900
Saint Ignatius Loyola ChurchLate Victorian · Built 1898
Shelden Avenue Historic DistrictRomanesque
John J. Michels HouseColonial Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Houghton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Houghton.

Read it all →

Native Americans mined copper in and around what would later be Houghton thousands of years before European settlement. "French explorers had noted... [its] 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."

Many Cornish and Finnish immigrants arrived in the Houghton area to work in the copper mines in the mining boom that made Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula; both groups have had a great influence on the culture and cuisine of the local area. The Finns and others called much of the area Copper Island. Smaller numbers of French-Canadian immigrants moved to Houghton, while more of them settled elsewhere in Houghton County.

ChaptersPhilatelic history

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Houghton, 1846 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Houghton post office opens
  3. 1846Post officeThe Houghton post office closes
  4. 1852Post officeThe Houghton post office opens
  5. 1883In the archiveSHELDEN-Ransom
  6. 1887BuiltHoughton County Courthouse is built
  7. 1898BuiltSaint Ignatius Loyola Church is built
  8. 1898In the archiveCopper for Shipment, Houghton, Mich
  9. 20th century
  10. 1900BuiltDouglass House is built
  11. 1900In the archiveHoughton, Michigan panorama c1900
  12. 1904Born hereJames Peter Davis is born here
  13. 1910In the archiveCirkut photo of Mining College, Houghten [sic], Mich
  14. 1914Born hereNancy Harkness Love is born here
  15. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  16. 1927Born hereEugene Parker is born here
  17. 1940Born hereDonald G. Saari is born here
  18. 21st century
  19. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 8,386
On the map

Houghton on the map, 1915 to 1975

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Houghton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Houghton on the 1915 USGS mapHoughton on the 1946 USGS mapHoughton on the 1954 USGS mapHoughton on the 1975 USGS map1915Houghton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Houghton.

Every building

Houghton, building by building, 1888–1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Houghton fire insurance map, 1888, sheet 11888Sheet 1 of 13
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

SHELDEN-Ransom
Retake this viewSHELDEN-Ransom, 1883

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Houghton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

17 famous people were born in Houghton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Eugene ParkerAmerican astronomer · b. 1927
Nancy Harkness LoveAmerican aviator · b. 1914
D
Donald G. SaariAmerican mathematician, expert on voting method… · b. 1940
J
James Peter DavisCatholic archbishop · b. 1904
M
Mary Odile CahoonAmerican Benedictine nun, biologist and Antarct… · b. 1929
A
Avis DeVotoUS book editor · b. 1904
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Houghton had its own post office from 1846 to 1846.

Houghton
1846–1846
Houghton
1852–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Houghton Stationlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Houghton’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSHELDEN-Ransom: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Portage TownshipIts storyB+Stanton Township1 historic placeA−Adams Township3 historic placesAHurontownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFranklin Township3 historic placesA+Dollar BayIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Houghton’s history

What year was Houghton founded?

The Houghton post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1854.

How does Houghton rank for history?

Houghton is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #71 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Houghton?

8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Houghton County Courthouse (listed 1975, the first), and 1 historic district, the Shelden Avenue Historic District, with 43 contributing buildings. 50 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Houghton?

18% of Houghton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1977.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (12), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.