National Register of Historic Places

Shelden Avenue Historic District

Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan
Listed
December 30, 1987
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
87002154

About this property

The Shelden Avenue Historic District is a commercial historic district located along Shelden, Lake, & Montezuma Avenues in Houghton, Michigan. The district contains 43 contributing buildings (including the Douglass House and the Shelden-Dee Block, both separately listed) in an area of 22 acres. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The structures in the Shelden Avenue Historic District range in age from the 1870s to the 1980s, but were primarily built in 1880-1910, during the copper boom that brought waves of workers into the Keweenaw Peninsula. The Shelden Avenue Historic District contains the western Upper Peninsula's largest concentration of architecturally significant commercial buildings. The district includes primarily commercial structures, but warehouses, lodge halls, municipal buildings, a movie theater, and a railroad passenger depot are also included within the district's boundaries. The structures are built in a range of architectural styles, including Late Victorian commercial, Richardsonian Romanesque, Sullivanesque, Renaissance Revival, Prairie School, and gable-roofed vernacular buildings. Nearly all of the most significant structures were designed by architects from outside of the immediate area—typically from Detroit, Chicago, and Marquette, including the firms of Charlton, Gilbert and DeMar and Henry L. Ottenheimer. The structures range between one and four stories in height, and are in general constructed from local materials including waste rock from copper mines and native red sandstone.

Location

Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan
47.12250, -88.56731

Categories

INDUSTRYARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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The Land
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Geology
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LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
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The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
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The Community
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Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
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Historical Maps
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Spotlight
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Nearby Historic Sites

Shelden-Dee Block
Industrial
0 mi
Douglass House
Industrial
0 mi
Saint Ignatius Loyola Church
Industrial
0.2 mi
Houghton County Courthouse
Industrial
0.2 mi
Michels, John J., House
Industrial
0.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Shelden Avenue Historic District listed on the National Register?

Shelden Avenue Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1987.

What type of historic resource is Shelden Avenue Historic District?

Shelden Avenue Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Shelden Avenue Historic District?

The period of significance for Shelden Avenue Historic District is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Shelden Avenue Historic District?

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