Dakota Heights, Michigan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Dakota Heights is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

in Portage Township

Portage Township, Houghton County, Michigan

Portage Township is a charter township of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 3,156. The city of Houghton is adjacent to the north side of the township...

, Houghton County

Houghton County, Michigan

-National protected areas:* Keweenaw National Historical Park * Ottawa National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 36,016 people, 13,793 households, and 8,137 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile . There were 17,748 housing...

in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. It is an enclave surrounded on all four sides by the extreme western part of the city of Houghton

Houghton, Michigan

Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County...

(on the fourth by Portage Lake (or, depending on definition of terms, the Portage Lake Shipping Canal

Keweenaw Waterway

The Keweenaw Waterway is a partly natural, partly artificial waterway which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan; it separates Copper Island from the mainland. Parts of the waterway are variously known as the Keweenaw Waterway, Portage Canal, Portage Lake Canal, Portage River, Lily Pond,...

); it is non-contiguous with any other part of Portage Township. (However, it was formerly served by the water lines of Adams Township

Adams Township, Houghton County, Michigan

Adams Township is a civil township of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 2,747.-Communities:...

.) Living in Dakota Heights is at least sometimes regarded as living "in town" (Houghton).

History

Dakota Heights was plat

Plat

A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....

ted in 1906 and named after the Dacotah Mining Company, which operated briefly in its vicinity. It provided housing for workers on the Copper Range Railroad

Copper Range Railroad

The Copper Range Railroad was a small railroad company that operated from 1899 to 1972 in the western Upper Peninsula of the state of Michigan, United States....

, which had a number of facilities immediately to the north; the company owned most of the housing. It remains "primarily residential," though some businesses have opened (and closed) in it over the years, including a former motel

Motel

A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...

, and currently a podiatrist's office, restaurant and spa

Spa

The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...

Geography

Dakota Heights originally sat at the west end of Houghton's Sheldon Avenue. West of Dakota Heights was originally countryside, prior to the development of the M-26 corridor that began in the mid-1970s.

Climate

Dakota Heights has a humid continental climate

Humid continental climate

A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....

but winters are typically long and snowy with much lake effect snow

Lake effect snow

Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when cold winds move across long expanses of warmer lake water, providing energy and picking up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the leeward shores...

Environmental issues

Pollution in Huron Creek, arguably from inadequate private septic systems
has contributed to the growth of algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

Education

The local school district is Houghton-Portage Township Schools

Houghton-Portage Township Schools

Houghton-Portage Township Schools is a school district that covers the city of Houghton, Michigan and Portage Township. It includes three schools: Houghton High School, Houghton Middle School, and Houghton Elementary School....

. Students K-12 are served by Houghton Elementary (K-5), Middle (6-8), and High (9-12) schools.http://www.houghton.k12.mi.us

The Rock School formerly served Dakota Heights and the surrounding area.

Highway

In 1979 Highway M-26

M-26 (Michigan highway)

M-26 is a state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan, running from two miles east of Rockland to its junction with US Highway 41 in Copper Harbor. It generally runs southwest-to-northeast in the western half or Michigan's Upper Peninsula...

was rerouted through the community, bisecting it. Park Avenue had formerly served as the main route from Houghton to Atlantic Mine, but this was replaced by the new route of the highway.

Public transportation

Houghton Motor Transit operates a demand bus that serves the community, but "curb to curb" services is only for Houghton residents, and as it is outside the city limits of Houghton rates with one terminus in Dakota Heights are higher. However, there are no regularly scheduled route buses operating in the community.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.