Portage Lake Lift Bridge

Temple Jacob is a small historic synagogue in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It owes its origins to the copper boom in the Keweenaw Peninsula in the late 19th and early 20th century. The first Jewish synagogue in the Copper Country, it is also the oldest, continuously active Jewish House of Worship in the Upper Peninsula and the only active synagogue in Michigan listed on the National Historic Register as part of the East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District. The synagogue is located near the north end of the lift bridge which connects the two towns of Houghton and Hancock. It was built on land purchased from the Quincy Mining Company and was dedicated in September 1912. The cornerstone inscribes the building in memory of Jacob, son of Israel Gartner, who was a generous contributor and fundraiser. He died shortly before the building was completed.

Trinity Episcopal Church is a Gothic Revival-style Episcopal church at 205 East Montezuma Avenue in Houghton, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site on July 17, 1986. It is the second of two church buildings to exist on the site; the current one replaced a wooden structure in 1910. The church's philosophy is built on the Oxford Movement.

The Detroit and Lake Superior Smelter was a copper smelter located near Hancock, Michigan on the Keweenaw Waterway. It was opened in 1860 by the Portage Lake Copper Company. The company later merged with the Waterbury and Detroit Copper Company to form the Detroit and Lake Superior Company. The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company used the smelter until it built its own near Hubbell, Michigan and Black Rock, New York in 1887 and 1891 respectively.Some of the buildings still exist and are currently used by the Houghton County Road Commission.

The Houghton County Courthouse is a government building located at 401 E. Houghton Street in Houghton, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

The Kerredge Theatre was a theatre located in the 1st block of East Quincy Street in Hancock, Michigan, next to the Scott Hotel. It was built by William and Ray Kerredge and completed by Fall 1902. The theatre hosted many vaudeville groups and could accommodate 1250 patrons. The theatre was fronted by a circular balcony. The Kerredge Theatre was built in response to the construction two years earlier of The Calumet Theatre in Calumet, Michigan.At some point, the Kerredge was converted into a movie theater.The building caught fire around 2am and burned to the ground in the early morning of May 29, 1959. The efforts of fire crews prevented direct fire damage to the neighboring Scott Hotel, but it suffered an estimated $100,000 (1959 US dollars) of smoke and water damage. No injuries occurred.

The Scott Hotel is a former hotel located at 101 East Quincy Street in Hancock, Michigan, originally known as the Hotel Scott. As of 2009, it is also known as the Scott Building. The five-story building is in the Renaissance Revival style, constructed of tan brick and trimmed with Lake Superior Sandstone. The building is listed as a Michigan State Historic Site and is a contributing property of the Quincy Street Historic District.

The Keweenaw Brewing Company (KBC) is a craft brewer with a taproom in Houghton and a production facility in nearby South Range, Michigan. It is named for the Keweenaw Peninsula, which projects out to the north of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Established in 2004, Keweenaw is the largest brewer in the Upper Peninsula (as of 2021); their products are sold there and in the nearby states/regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Their taproom looks out over the Keweenaw Waterway and Copper Island, and their best-known beer is the Widow Maker Black Ale.

Portage Lake District Library is a public library in Houghton, Michigan, which serves the city of Houghton and Portage Townships. The Portage Lake District Library participates in the Michigan eLibrary (MeL) and is a member of the Superiorland Library Cooperative. The Portage Lake District also includes a room dedicated to Michigan History and Genealogy. The Portage Lake District Library hosts events over the course of the year, ranging from storytime for children to writing workshops and author visits. These events are free and open to the public. In 2020, the Portage Lake District Library received the June B. Mendel Award for Excellence in Rural Library Service from the Library of Michigan. The bi-annual award honored Library staff for the development of non-traditional library programs for the community.Adams and Elm River Townships had been part of the library district until 1997 when they voted to sever their relationship with it. The original location was built in 1909, at the site originally occupied by the Armory Building for Company G of the Houghton Light Infantry, using a $15,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. In 2006 the Portage Lake District Library moved to a new building on the Houghton Waterfront. The former library building became the Carnegie Museum. In November 2018, the Portage Lake District Library assumed operations of the Hancock public library located at Hancock High School.

The Houghton Fire Hall, officially called the Continental Fire Company Building, is a former fire station at the corner of Huron St. and Montezuma Ave. in Houghton, Michigan. Built in 1883, it was the original home of the Michigan Mining School. The building is listed as a Michigan State Historic Site and is a contributing property of the Shelden Avenue Historic District.

Hancock is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of Hancock was 4,501 at the 2020 census. The city is located within Houghton County, and is situated upon the Keweenaw Waterway, a channel of Lake Superior that cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula. Hancock is located across the Keweenaw Waterway from the city of Houghton, and is connected to that city by the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. The city is located within Michigan's Copper Country region. Hancock is considered a "cultural capital" for Finnish Americans. The city is home to the Finnish American Heritage Center, and was home to Finlandia University from 1896 to 2023. Some street name signs in Hancock are bilingual, reading in both English and Finnish. The Weather Channel has consistently ranked Hancock as the third-snowiest city in the U.S.

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

The Quincy Street Historic District is a historic district located along the 100, 200, and 300 blocks of Quincy Street, along with 416 Tezcuco Street, in Hancock, Michigan. The Hancock Town Hall and Fire Hall is located in the district. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.