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Houghton, Michigan

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Houghton City. It lies in ZIP code area 49931. The Survey maps it on the Chassell quadrangle. 8,386 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 643 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Houghton within Houghton County

On record in Houghton

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 8 records

Population over time

2 figures

Houghton grew from 7,708 to 8,386 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20107,708
20208,386+678 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

15 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Houghton between 1992 and 2019, burning about 432 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Debris and open burning3
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Recreation and ceremony1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
25 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesDOLLAR BAY VFD 0000012 - 2019
12 September 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.3 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 July 2002Misuse of fire by a minor3.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesHANCOCK FD 0000025 - 2018
6 June 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined400 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesRICE LAKE
14 June 2019Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesQUINCY-FRANKLIN-HANCOCK VFD 2019006 - 2019
7 May 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 May 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Houghton County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 64 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 64 workings within 5 miles of Houghton: 40 past producers, 17 prospects, 7 producers. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Copper, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Copper, Silver, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Sturgeon Clay PitFire Clay (Refractory)Past Producer
Gedvillas PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Isle Royale AmygdaloidCopper, SilverPast Producer1852, 1968
Isle Royale MineCopper, SilverPast Producer1853, 1885
Pewabic AmygdaloidCopper, SilverPast Producer1857, 1931
Superior Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Wash PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Isle RoyaleCopper, SilverPast Producer1852, 1853
QuincyCopper, SilverPast Producer1856
Quincy MineCopper, SilverPast Producer1856, 1925

Every working recorded in Houghton County

Storms near this place

16 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Houghton in 16 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2018Thunderstorm WindHoughton$3,000There were reports over the police scanner of trees down in Houghton.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindHoughton$1,000Multiple downed trees have been observed by law enforcement in the City of Houghton. The public has been observed cleaning up the debris.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindHoughton$500A video was relayed via social media of an eight-inch diameter tree downed in Houghton.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindHoughton$500A tree was reported down across Highway M-26. Time of the report was estimated from radar.
July 2020HailHoughton-There was a public report of one-inch diameter hail in Houghton.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindHoughton-Eight-inch diameter tree blown down.
April 2004HailHoughton-Nickle sized hail was reported.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindHoughton-A 14 inch diameter tree was blown down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindHoughton-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down, a metal roof was peeled off a warehouse, an empty semi-trailer was overturned, and a camper trailer was tipped over.
June 2001HailHoughton-Golf-ball sized hail.
June 2001HailHoughton-Dime sized hail.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindHoughton-A large tree blown down, partially blocking the highway.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindHoughton-61 mph gust measured at KCMX ASOS.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindHoughton-Many trees down along M-38 and M-64 in Ontonagon and Houghton Counties.
September 2007HailHoughton-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindHoughton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Houghton County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Hancock0.7 miles22
Hurontown0.8 miles19
Ripley0.9 miles22
Franklin Mine1.3 miles22
Pewabic1.3 miles22
Dodgeville2.0 miles19
Lewer Pewabic2.1 miles22
Paavola2.4 miles22

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on HoughtonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q12429The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 628661. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.