Editing Houghton County, Michigan (section)

==History==
In 1843, the [[Upper Peninsula]] was divided into Mackinac, Chippewa, Marquette, Schoolcraft, Delta, and Ontonagon Counties.<ref name="Sawyer, p. 466">{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3YF5AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA466 |title = A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People |last = Sawyer |first = Alvah Littlefield |publisher = Lewis Publishing Co. |year = 1911 |isbn = 9780598489524 |page = 466 }}</ref> In 1845, Houghton County boundaries were defined, with areas partitioned from Marquette and Ontonagon Counties. The new county was named after Douglass Houghton, the new state's first [[Michigan Geological Survey|State Geologist]], who extensively explored the Upper Peninsula's mineralogy.<ref name="Sawyer, p. 466" /><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.michigan.gov/documents/libraryofmichigan/LM_2018_NGS_Houghton_620046_7.pdf |title = Houghton County Bibliography |publisher = Library of Michigan }}</ref> The original boundaries of Houghton County included the future Keweenaw and Baraga Counties.<ref name="Sawyer, p. 467">{{harvp|Sawyer|1911|p= 467}}.</ref> In 1846, the county was organized into three townships: [[Eagle Harbor Township, Michigan|Eagle Harbor]], [[Houghton Township, Michigan|Houghton]], and [[L'Anse Township, Michigan|L'Anse]].<ref name="Sawyer, p. 467" /> [[Keweenaw County]] was set off from Houghton County in 1861 and Baraga County was set off in 1875.<ref>{{harvp|Sawyer|1911|p= 468}}.</ref>

Houghton County's history is heavily marked by immigration. At one of the peaks of its population, the 1910 census had 40.6% of its population of 88,098 as foreign-born, with 89.3% of the population being either foreign-born or having at one or both of their parents as foreign-born. 70.6% of all voters were foreign-born, and only 5.1% of voters were native-born with native parents. This amalgam of immigrants from dozens of countries created a unique culture, especially once population growth stopped, and the county shrank in population to its current numbers. Heavily representative among many ethnicities were the Finnish. The 1910 census listed 13.1% of the residents being Finnish-born (out of the 32.3% total of the residents listed as foreign-born). The 2010 census lists almost the same proportion (32.5%) of the population as having Finnish ancestors.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title = US Decennial Census |publisher = US Census Bureau |access-date = February 21, 2017 }}</ref>
[[File:Finlandia University Entrance Sign Hancock Michigan 2021-2.jpg|thumb|The [[Finlandia University]] in [[Hancock, Michigan|Hancock]]]]

Amid the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s, a sharp increase in unemployment among workers in the mining and timber industries caused a pivot to potato production. For a brief time in the 1930s and 1940s, the region became a major exporter of potatoes within the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Houghton County Potato Farming – Michigan Tech Archives Blog|url=https://blogs.mtu.edu/archives/2012/04/04/houghton-county-potato-farming/|language=en|date=April 4, 2012|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>

In June 2018, a major [[flash flood]] caused [[sinkhole]]s and [[Washout (erosion)|washouts]] in the towns of Chassell, Houghton, Ripley, Lake Linden, and Hubbell.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Floods-devastate-Houghton-business-district-485779171.html |last = Powell |first = Mariah |title = Floods Devastate Houghton Business District |date = June 17, 2018 |work = Upper Michigan's Source |location = Negaunee, Michigan |publisher = [[WLUC-TV]] }}</ref>