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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 East Houghton neighbourhood is East 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 Waterfront Trail , at one end of which is the Houghton RV Park ; at the other end is the Nara Nature Park . Veterans Park is just across the Portage Lake Lift BridgeThe Portage Lake Lift Bridge connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton, Michigan by crossing over the Portage Waterway, an arm of Portage Lake which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula with a canal linking the final several miles to Lake Superior to the from Hancock, and contains the memorial to the Houghton Company , which fought in the Civil War. Houghton in the headquarters for Isle Royale National ParkIsle Royale Designation National park Location Michigan USA Nearest City Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada Latitude 48° 6' N Longitude 88° 33' W Area 571,790 acres231,400 ha Date of Establishment April 3, 1940 Visitation 19,260 (2002) Governing Body National P.
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 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around, but a school founded in 18851885 is a common year starting on Thursday (click on link for calendar) Events January January 4 The first successful appendectomy is performed (Dr. William Grant; patient was Mary Gartside). January 20 L. Thompson patents the roller coaster. January 26 T by the Michigan State Legislature to teach metallurgy and mining engineering, the Michigan College of Mines, continues today under the name of Michigan Technological UniversityMichigan Technological University is an institution of higher learning with its main campus in Houghton, Michigan. It also maintains the Ford Forestry Center and Research Forest, located in Alberta, Michigan. Michigan Tech was founded in 1885 as the Michi 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 SheldonRansom Sheldon was the founder of Houghton, a city in the county of Houghton, Michigan. Around 1850, Sheldon bought land near Portage Lake and later opened a store on southern side. Ten years later he would build Pewabic House, the oldest still-extant bui, 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 ballroom and a skate park for skateboarding.)
In the winter of 2001 among the first lumitalos to be constructed in the United States was built in Houghton.