What to See in Houghton-Hancock - Top Sights and Attractions

Lift bridge in Houghton County, Michigan. The Portage Lake Lift Bridge connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton, in the US state of Michigan. It crosses Portage Lake, a portion of the waterway which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula with a canal linking the final several miles to Lake Superior to the northwest. US Highway 41 and M-26 are both routed across the bridge. It is the only land-based link between the north and south sections of the Keweenaw peninsula.

This moveable bridge is a lift bridge with the middle section capable of being lifted from its low point of four feet clearance over the water to a clearance of 100 feet (30 m) to allow boats to pass underneath. The bridge is the world's heaviest and widest double-decked vertical-lift bridge. More than 35,000 tons of concrete and 7,000 tons of steel went into the bridge, which replaced the narrow 54-year-old swing bridge, declared a menace to navigation on the busy Keweenaw Waterway.

Hancock and Houghton hold an annual celebration called Bridgefest to commemorate the opening of the bridge which united their two communities.^[1]

Museum in Houghton, Michigan. The Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw in Houghton, Michigan, is a non-collecting museum that houses changing exhibits about local cultural and natural history. The building is so named as it was built with a 1908 grant from Andrew Carnegie. It served as the public library for Houghton, Michigan from its opening in 1910 until 2006. It is the former building of the Portage Lake District Library. The building was built in 1909, at the site originally occupied by the Armory Building for Company G of the Houghton Light Infantry, using a $15,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. The museum opened in fall 2006 after the library moved to its new location.

The building was declared a Michigan State Historic Site on June 18, 1976, listed as the Houghton Public Library. On December 30, 1987, the Shelden Avenue Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the library as a contributing property. The building is built in the Classical Revival style.

In October 2013, the museum became a Heritage Site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.^[2]

Synagogue in Houghton County, Michigan. Temple Jacob is a small historic synagogue in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It owes its origins to the copper boom in the Keweenaw Peninsula in the late 19th and early 20th century. The first Jewish synagogue in the Copper Country, it is also the oldest, continuously active Jewish House of Worship in the Upper Peninsula and the only active synagogue in Michigan listed on the National Historic Register as part of the East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District. The synagogue is located near the north end of the lift bridge which connects the two towns of Houghton and Hancock. It was built on land purchased from the Quincy Mining Company and was dedicated in September 1912. The cornerstone inscribes the building in memory of Jacob, son of Israel Gartner, who was a generous contributor and fundraiser. He died shortly before the building was completed.^[3]

Museum in Houghton, Michigan. The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, currently located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, is the official mineral museum of the state of Michigan and is a heritage site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. The museum is named for professor Arthur Edmund Seaman, who worked at Michigan Tech in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the museum's curator from 1928 until 1937.

The mineral collection was established in the 19th century, and by 1890 numbered 27,000 specimens. The museum currently houses over 25,000 specimens from around the world. Many of these specimens are native generally to Michigan, and more specifically to the Lake Superior region.^[5]

Public library in Houghton, Michigan. Portage Lake District Library is a public library in Houghton, Michigan, which serves the city of Houghton and Portage Townships. The Portage Lake District Library participates in the Michigan eLibrary and is a member of the Superiorland Library Cooperative.

The Portage Lake District also includes a room dedicated to Michigan History and Genealogy.

The Portage Lake District Library hosts events over the course of the year, ranging from storytime for children to writing workshops and author visits. These events are free and open to the public. In 2020, the Portage Lake District Library received the June B. Mendel Award for Excellence in Rural Library Service from the Library of Michigan. The bi-annual award honored Library staff for the development of non-traditional library programs for the community.

Adams and Elm River Townships had been part of the library district until 1997 when they voted to sever their relationship with it.

The original location was built in 1909, at the site originally occupied by the Armory Building for Company G of the Houghton Light Infantry, using a $15,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. In 2006 the Portage Lake District Library moved to a new building on the Houghton Waterfront. The former library building became the Carnegie Museum.

In November 2018, the Portage Lake District Library assumed operations of the Hancock public library located at Hancock High School.^[8]