Houghton County, Michigan

Houghton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 36,016. The county seat is Houghton.

Houghton County is part of the Houghton micropolitan area, which also includes Keweenaw County. Part of the county is sometimes locally called Copper Island.

The County was set off in 1843, organized in 1846 and reorganized in 1848. It is named for geologist Douglass Houghton.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,502 square miles (3,890.2 km2), of which 1,012 square miles (2,621.1 km2) is land and 490 square miles (1,269.1 km2) (32.62%) is water.

The Portage Lift Bridge crosses Portage Lake, connecting Hancock and Houghton, Michigan, by crossing over Portage Lake, which is part of the river and canal system that crosses the entire peninsula. The Portage Lift Bridge is the world's heaviest and widest double-decked vertical lift bridge. Its center span "lifts" to provide 100 feet (30 m) of clearance for ships.

The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions — police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. — are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

The Houghton County Courthouse “..stood high upon the bluff on Houghton Village facing North and pleasantly overlooking Portage Lake.” (Sawyer 110), and has been inducted in the U.S. Registry of Historic Districts and Buildings of the Upper Peninsula. Construction began in spring 1886. The building had its first addition to the north wing, the addition of a larger jail wing, in 1910, and that was the only renovation until the jail wing was condemned in 1961. A new jail was built in its present location, adjacent to the original. According to the Mining Gazette of July 25, 1886, “The materials used with the exception of the facing brick are the product of the Upper Peninsula”(p.3). Kathryn Eckert, in her Buildings of Michigan, wrote:

As of the census of 2000, there were 36,016 people, 13,793 households, and 8,137 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile (14/km²). There were 17,748 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.52% White, 0.94% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 1.79% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.8% were of Finnish, 12.4% German, 6.8% English, 6.6% French and 5.7% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.0% spoke English and 3.1% Finnish as their first language.

There were 13,793 households out of which 26.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.50% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.00% were non-families. 32.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.04.

Atlantic Mine,Dakota Heights,Dodgeville,Dollar Bay,Dreamland,Franklin Mine,Hubbell,Hurontown,

Jacobsville,Mason,Ripley,Senter,Adams Township,Calumet Township,Chassell Township,Duncan Township,Elm River Township,Franklin Township,Hancock Township,Laird Township,Osceola Township,Portage Township,Quincy Township,Schoolcraft Township,Stanton Township,Torch Lake Township