National Register Of Historic Places In Houghton County, Michigan
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__NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Houghton County, Michigan. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in Houghton County,
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in a map. There are 42 properties and districts listed on the National Register in the county, including 2
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
s.


History


Early history

Houghton County was created in 1845, and then encompassed the present-day Houghton County as well as
Keweenaw County Keweenaw County (, ; , ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, the state's northernmost county. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the ...
and Ontonagon County.


Copper mining

The history of Houghton County in inextricably linked with copper mining, and, indeed, nearly all of the NRHP-listed properties in the county are directly or indirectly linked to the mines. The two most successful copper mines in the county were the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company and the
Quincy Mine The Quincy Mine is an extensive set of copper mines located near Hancock, Michigan. The mine was owned by the Quincy Mining Company and operated between 1846 and 1945, although some activities continued through the 1970s. The Quincy Mine was know ...
, both of which are now
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
s.


Calumet and Hecla

The NHL
Calumet Historic District The Calumet Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District that encompasses most of the village of Calumet, Michigan. The district was designated in 1989 for the community's importance in the history of the region's copper mining ind ...
includes a substantial proportion of the town of Calumet, Michigan, and the separately listed
Calumet and Hecla Industrial District The Calumet and Hecla Industrial District is a historic district located in Calumet, Michigan and roughly bounded by Hecla & Torch Lake Railroad tracks, Calumet Avenue, Mine and Depot Streets. The district contains structures associated with t ...
and
Calumet Downtown Historic District The Calumet Downtown Historic District is a historic district located in Calumet, Michigan, on 5th Street and 6th Street, between Scott Street and Pine Street. It is also known as the Red Jacket Downtown Historic District, reflecting the origina ...
. The former covers many of the industrial mining buildings of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, while the latter covers the commercial portion of Calumet—the city was built substantially as a company town, and many of the buildings were constructed by, or with support from, Calumet and Hecla. This was true also of the
Calumet Fire Station The Calumet Fire Station is a firehouse located on 6th Street in Calumet, Michigan. It is also known as the Red Jacket Fire Station. The building was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Histor ...
and the
Calumet Theatre The Calumet Theatre is a historic theatre located at 340 Sixth Street in the town of Calumet, Michigan. It is also known as the Calumet Opera House or the Calumet Civic Auditorium. It is integral to, but a separate unit of, the Calumet municipal ...
. The
Keweenaw National Historical Park Keweenaw National Historical Park is a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Established in 1992, the park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2009, it is a pa ...
is also located primarily in Calumet. In addition, the nearby town of
Laurium Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός '' Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Gree ...
, now a historic district, was populated substantially by executives and white-collar workers from the Calumet and Hecla. Of particular note is the Thomas H. Hoatson House, built by mining executive Thomas H. Hoatson.


Quincy Mine

The other substantial mine in Houghton County was the
Quincy Mine The Quincy Mine is an extensive set of copper mines located near Hancock, Michigan. The mine was owned by the Quincy Mining Company and operated between 1846 and 1945, although some activities continued through the 1970s. The Quincy Mine was know ...
. This NHL covers the mining property and nearby homes, as well as the significant Quincy Mine No. 2 Shaft Hoist House. Another Quincy property, the Quincy Mining Company Stamp Mills, is also on the NRHP. Like Calumet, the town of Hancock was also substantially a company town, this time of the Quincy Mine. The affluent East Hancock was populated by mine employees and managers.


Other mines

Other properties on the register were associated with the copper mining industry in Houghton County. These include the Smith-Dengler House, built by the Wolverine Copper Mining Company; the Redridge Steel and Log Dams, built as a joint project by the
Atlantic Mining Company The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and the
Baltic Mining Company The Copper Range Company was a major copper-mining company in the Copper Country of Michigan, United States. It began as the Copper Range Company in the late 19th century as a holding company specializing in shares in the copper mines south of Ho ...
; and the community of
Painesdale, Michigan Painesdale is an unincorporated community in Houghton County, Michigan, United States. Painesdale is located in Adams Township along M-26, southwest of South Range. Painesdale has a post office with ZIP code 49955. History Painesdale was bu ...
, built by the
Champion Mining Company The Champion Mining Company was created in 1899 to manage the Champion Mine located in the heart of copper country in Painesdale, Michigan, United States. The Champion Mine in Painesdale was closed in 1967. The Champion #4 Shaft-Rock house is the ...
.


Commercial Houghton County

Many of the communities in Houghton County were mining towns, but these communities too required commercial and social structures. The primarily commercial downtown districts of four Houghton County Communities are on the register: the
Calumet Downtown Historic District The Calumet Downtown Historic District is a historic district located in Calumet, Michigan, on 5th Street and 6th Street, between Scott Street and Pine Street. It is also known as the Red Jacket Downtown Historic District, reflecting the origina ...
mentioned above, the
Lake Linden Historic District The Lake Linden Historic District is located in the village of Lake Linden, Michigan, Lake Linden in Houghton County, Michigan. The primary section of the district is along Calumet Street (M-26 (Michigan highway), M-26), from First to Eighth S ...
in
Lake Linden Lake Linden is a village in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,007 at the 2010 census. The village is mostly within Schoolcraft Township, though a tiny portion lies in Torch Lake Township. History Lake Linden ...
, the
Shelden Avenue Historic District The Shelden Avenue Historic District is a commercial historic district located along Shelden, Lake, & Montezuma Avenues in Houghton, Michigan. The district contains 43 contributing buildings (including the Douglass House and the Shelden-Dee B ...
in
Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada *Houghton Township, ...
, and the Quincy Street Historic District in
Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...
. In addition to the districts, individual commercial buildings have been recognized for their historic importance: the Joseph Bosch Building in Lake Linden, the J. Vivian, Jr. and Company Building in Laurium, and the Douglass House and Shelden-Dee Block (and the Ransom B. Shelden House) in Houghton.


Civic and government buildings

Another important subset of structures in Houghton County are public buildings. These buildings were often built with the help of, the mining companies that ran the towns; such was the case with the
Calumet Fire Station The Calumet Fire Station is a firehouse located on 6th Street in Calumet, Michigan. It is also known as the Red Jacket Fire Station. The building was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Histor ...
and the Hancock Town Hall and Fire Hall, both substantial red sandstone structures. Other government buildings include the South Range Community Building, the Lake Linden Village Hall and Fire Station and of course the Houghton County Courthouse. Educational buildings include the schools in Chassel and the College Club House and Gymnasium on the campus of Michigan Technological University. Distinctive churches in the county include Saint Ignatius Loyola Church in Houghton, the First Congregational Church in Lake Linden, and the
Jacobsville Finnish Lutheran Church The Jacobsville Finnish Lutheran Church is a church located near Jacobsville, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1977 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. History In the late 19th century, ...


Listings county-wide


Former listings


See also

* List of Michigan State Historic Sites in Houghton County, Michigan *
List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan The National Historic Landmarks in Michigan represent Michigan's history from pre-colonial days through World War II, and encompasses several landmarks detailing the state's automotive, maritime and mining industries. There are 43 National H ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Michigan This is a list of properties on the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. state of Michigan. __NOTOC__ Current listings by county Alcona County Alger County Allegan County Alpena County Antrim C ...
* Listings in neighboring counties: Baraga,
Iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
,
Keweenaw The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As ...
, Ontonagon


References


External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan 01 .
Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada *Houghton Township, ...
Houghton County, Michigan