Shelden Avenue Historic District

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)[2] in an area of 22 acres.[1] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[1]

Shelden Avenue Historic District
Corner of Sheldon and Huron, looking east
LocationShelden, Lake, & Montezuma Aves., Houghton, Michigan
Coordinates47°7′21″N 88°34′4″W
Area22.2 acres (9.0 ha)
ArchitectOttenheimer, Henry L.; Charlton, Gilbert,& Demar
Architectural styleClassical Revival, Renaissance, Romanesque
NRHP reference No.87002154[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 30, 1987

History

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.[3]

Description

The Shelden Avenue Historic District contains the western Upper Peninsula's largest concentration of architecturally significant commercial buildings.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3]

  • Corner of Sheldon and Isle Royale, looking west
  • Corner of Sheldon and Huron
  • Corner of Sheldon and Huron, looking west
  • Sheldon, west of Huron

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Margaret Beattie Bogue (2007), Around the shores of Lake Superior: a guide to historic sites, University of Wisconsin Press, p. 278, ISBN 0-299-22174-1
  3. "Shelden Avenue Historic District". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
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