Houghton Public Library (Portage Lake District Library, Carnegie Cultural Museum)
105 Huron St., Houghton
Completed 1910
Contractor: John Michels

In 1908, John Doelle, Superintendent of the Portage Township School District, successfully led an effort to establish a public library in Houghton. The Houghton Public Library was constructed using a $15,000 grant provided by steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, and was operated by the Portage Township School District for many years. More recently known as the Portage Lake District Library,⁴ the building was used as a library until the summer of 2006.

The Classical-Revival style building is brick on a Jacobsville Sandstone foundation. The flat roof has a parapet above a molded cornice. The pedimented central entrance dominates the façade. The doorway surrounds and window lintels and sills are smooth-faced Jacobsville sandstone. The 60’x 37’-8” building is essentially one story, but the steep slope of the street reveals a basement level on the downhill side.

The main floor, which served as the reading room, has a rubble-stone fireplace and oak woodwork. The basement was dominated by a community room with a stage; this room was turned into a children’s room full of books and videos. There was also a “historical room” and a magazine room in the basement.⁵

Houghton Public Library <history.cityofhoughton.com/history/muninc.html>

Houghton Public Library. Photograph by F. L. Quivik, 2011.