Houghton, Michigan
| Houghton | ||
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| City | ||
Winter in Houghton, Michigan. The post office can be seen at the left.
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| Nickname(s): Hoton | ||
 Location of Houghton, Michigan |
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| Coordinates: 47°7′2″N 88°33′45″W / 47.11722°N 88.56250°WCoordinates: 47°7′2″N 88°33′45″W / 47.11722°N 88.56250°W | ||
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 Michigan
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| County | Houghton | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 4.69 sq mi (12.15 km2) | |
| • Land | 4.45 sq mi (11.53 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.24 sq mi (0.62 km2) 5.12% | |
| Elevation | 643 ft (196 m) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 7,708 | |
| • Estimate (2012) | 7,705 | |
| • Density | 1,732.1/sq mi (668.8/km2) | |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | |
| ZIP code | 49931 | |
| Area code(s) | 906 | |
| FIPS code | 26-39360 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 0628661 | |
Houghton (/ˈhoʊtən/) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County. It has been listed as one of the "100 Best Small Towns in America."
Houghton is sometimes confused with, or thought to be close to, Houghton Lake; the latter is actually located in the state's Lower Peninsula. Due to its location in the northwestern portion of the Upper Peninsula, Houghton is isolated from the state's most populous areas. It is farther to drive from Houghton to Detroit than it is from Detroit to Washington, D.C. It takes fewer hours to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin or Minneapolis, Minnesota from Houghton than it does to travel to Detroit.
Houghton, as its county, was named after Douglass Houghton, an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.
The area lends itself to a wide variety of outdoor sports, both winter (ice hockey, Nordic and Alpine skiing, figure skating, and snowmobiling) and summer (trail running, hiking, camping, river and sea kayaking, sailing, windsurfing and road and mountain biking).
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