Houghton, Michigan

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The city of Houghton was named after its county, which was named after a pioneer state geologist Douglass Houghton. Houghton's first settler was a man named Ransom Sheldon who bought land near Portage Lake and later opened a store there.

Houghton was platted by Ernest F. Pletschke in 1854 and was incorporated into a village in 1867. Houghton was in the heart of the great copper mining boom of the mid-1800's.

Houghton is also the home of Michigan Technological University, which began life as the Michigan Mining School in 1885. Established by the state of Michigan to train mining engineers to better operate the local copper mines, MTU began their journey with four faculty members and 23 students on the second floor of the Houghton Fire Hall.