BlockBefore

Houghton Lake, Michigan

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Roscommon Township. It lies in ZIP code area 48629. The Survey maps it on the Houghton Lake quadrangle. 5,294 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,145 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Houghton Lake within Roscommon County

Population over time

3 figures

Houghton Lake grew from 3,749 to 5,294 between 2000 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
20003,749
20103,427-322 (-9%)
20205,294+1,867 (+54%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

49 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Houghton Lake between 1992 and 2019, burning about 134 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 were 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/undetermined14
Debris and open burning11
Arson/incendiarism8
Equipment and vehicle use5
Recreation and ceremony5
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
18 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesLAKE TOWNSHIP VFD 0292019 - 2019
9 August 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 July 1992Recreation and ceremony2.5 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 July 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreHuron-Manistee National ForestPAVILLION
4 July 2002Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 July 2009Arson/incendiarism21 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesROSCOMMON 16
2 July 2005Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
13 July 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesROSCOMMON 12

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Roscommon County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Houghton Lake: 4 producers, 1 past producer, 1 prospect. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Fire Clay (Refractory). 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
N.Houghton Lake Clay SampleFire Clay (Refractory)Prospect
Jess Stanley Gravel Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Roscommon County Road Comm. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Roscommon County Road Comm. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Roscommon County Road Comm. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
State of Michigan PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Roscommon County

Storms near this place

25 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Houghton Lake in 25 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 18 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 1 lightning. 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
July 2019Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake$70,000Many trees and power lines were downed. Some vehicles, homes, cottages, and other buildings were damaged by falling trees.
June 1999LightningHoughton Lake$50,000no account filed
August 2006Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake$45,000Many trees and power lines downed. More than 45 trees were downed at South Higgins Lake State Park, crushing several vehicles.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake$5,000Several trees were downed.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake$5,000A pontoon boat was ripped off a hoist and flipped over.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake$2,000Two large trees downed.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake$2,000Trees downed at Old 27 and Deadstream Road.
March 2026HailHoughton Lake-Accumulating quarter size hail, with hailstones up to the size of half-dollars.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Several trees down.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Numerous trees down.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Trees and power lines down.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Several large trees down.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Several trees and power lines were blown down.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Several trees were blown down.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees. Some trees were toppled onto homes.
July 2014HailHoughton Lake-no account filed
June 2008HailHoughton Lake-no account filed
June 2005HailHoughton Lake-no account filed
July 2003HailHoughton Lake-no account filed
April 2001HailHoughton Lake-no account filed
August 2001Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindHoughton Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Roscommon 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
Houghton Lake Heights1.0 miles13
Nellsville3.0 miles13
Loxley3.5 miles13
Houghton Point4.0 miles13
Michelson6.1 miles12
Prudenville6.1 miles10
Meads Landing6.7 miles12
Sharps Corners8.5 miles11

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 Houghton LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2892388The 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 628665. 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.