Municipal and Cultural Activities

Municipal and Cultural Activities. Historic Houghton. , By the 1890s, Houghton had developed from a small lakeside village into a bustling regional hub for transportation and commerce. Its municipal services were designed to provide structure for the growing town, not only through ordinances and community utilities, but also by encouraging cultural institutions such as public libraries. , Although Houghton incorporated as a village in 1861, the 1883 fire hall was its first significant municipal structure. The building's apparent symmetry is decciving; the two ground-floor openings on the right provided access to a large garage housing fire-fighting equipment, the opening on che left accessed a stairway to office space on the upper floor. Originally, the building was topped with a small tower. In addition to housing four clock faces, which could be seen throughout the city, the tower provided necessary space to hang and dry the department's hoses. An addition was constructed in 1916 to house two additional fire engines. , Over subsequent decades, the city's growth affected the size and location of municipal facilities. Many city offices moved to the former Houghton Club building on Shelden Avenue in the 1930s and moved again in 1989 to the former Masonic Temple building. These moves assisted in the preservation of important historic buildings in the city. The fire hall continued its original mission for the Houghton fire department until 1974, when the city was forced to build a new fire hall in a more central position for the growing municipality. , The municipal fire hall also played a pivotal role in local education. In 1861, Michigan Governor Austin Blair signed a bill to start the Michigan Mining School in Houghton, but the Civil War made it impossible for the State to finance the project. It was not until 1885 that the State appropriated the necessary funds to actually start the School. In 1886, with a faculty of four and an enrollment of twenty-three, the first classes of the Michigan Mining School were held in rented space in the Houghton fire hall. Over a century later - and after three name changes - the mining school survives today as Michigan Technological University. , The fledgling school also made use of additional space in an armory on the east side of Huron Street, on the site of the current library. This corner was home to several community-oriented structures, including an ice rink, and an opera house. Perhaps the best known of Houghton's community recreational facilities was the 1902 Amphidrome, located along the city's waterfront, which included an ice rink and well-appointed ballroom. , In 1908, John Doelle, Superintendent of the Portage Township school district, led a successful effort to establish a public library in Houghton. Turning to steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the school district secured a $15,000 grant to construct the building. The Houghton Public Library was completed in 1910 and was operated by the school district for many years. In more recent decades, the library has been funded through a cooperative of municipalities which value the presence of public library services in their community. , Captions: , Ballroom in the Amphidrome 1919 , Houghton Fire Hall , Bowling alley in the basement of Hotel Dee , Houghton Public Library