Houghton Lake

      Over the years I've browsed the internet looking for information about Houghton Lake and found the same typical generic info. In my spare time I started this site for the love of Houghton Lake, and to share some interesting facts about the lake and the area. Try clicking on the highlighted text on the other pages, some are linked to satellite photos of the area noted. I hope you enjoy and contribute to this website. Please drop a line on the Guest Book page or use the Discussion Forum with history info, stories, and ideas. Any old or new photos with a short story would be appreciated and posted. Thanks for checking the site out.

 
                
            A few facts about Houghton Lake

     Houghton Lake is the largest inland lake in Michigan. The lake is 7 1/2 miles north to south and 4 1/2 miles at it's widest point. It has 30 miles of shore line and it's waters cover 20,044 acres. Average volume of the lake is around six billion cubic feet, thats around fifty billion gallons of water. The lake has an average depth of 7 1/2 feet with the deepest spot of 22 feet. The lake is a very popular resort and fishing area 12 months of the year. Also Houghton Lake is a great boating and swimming lake with it's warm waters and shallow sand bars for easy anchoring of your boat or PWC. There are a variety of fish to fish for, large and small mouth bass, yellow perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye and northern pike. Houghton Lake is the site of the winter festival TIP-UP-TOWN USA.
   Houghton Lake was first called Red Lake, first noted by John Brink, an Irishman surveyor of the territory in 1838. Later the lake was named it's current name after the first state geologist, Douglass Houghton who explored the area. Houghton Lake was the county seat until the county board of supervisors voted to move it to Roscommon in 1879. Settled in 1870 the population was about twenty.


                             Douglass Houghton