Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
Houghton, Michigan, circa 1906. "Shelden Street." Houghton was nothing if not well wired. 8x10 dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Aw, it WAS something beyond well wired.
The streets were well fertilized.
The location of the photographer crouched under the hot black cloth is exactly where "Welcome to Houghton" walkway currently is.
[Or was. The skywalk is gone now (see below). - Dave]
I attended Michigan Technological University in Houghton in the '60s and immediately recognized this scene. The magnificent Douglas House hotel is still there and looks amazingly unchanged, as are many of the other downtown building on Shelden Avenue. The wires are gone, though.
Here's an updated view from 2008. Since then, they've replaced the streetlights, removed that skywalk, and the street is now brick.
I never realized Houghton was that large of a town at the turn of the century. My great grandparents emigrated from Canada to Houghton in the late 1870s. My grandfather worked as a sawyer in the lumber industry till about 1905, when he moved to the really big city -- Detroit.
I immediately recognized it. I wish I still lived there-- I'd shoot you a picture. Of the four buildings in the foreground, three are still there. The one front left is gone. The back right one still has the tiny windowed panels over the main windows.
These are still sold today. I looked them up and they are selling their closeout styles for 3 bucks each. They retailed for 50 cents new in the early 60's when I sold them.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5