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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Houghton Lake ...

Houghton Lake is located in Roscommon County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Houghton Lake, you might consider that their post office opened in 1875.

A typical abbreviation for Houghton Lake: Houghton Lk.

Houghton Lake is 1,140 feet [347 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Houghton Lake lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Houghton Lake: 989

The ZIP code for Houghton Lake: 48629<3>

Communities near Houghton Lake ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Houghton Lake.

  • Roscommon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Prudenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Merritt
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Hillcrest
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest is located in Roscommon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Higgins Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Star City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Star City is located in Missaukee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star City
  • Stratford ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Stratford is located in Missaukee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
  • Tent City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Tent City is located in Roscommon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tent City
  • Meredith
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Meredith is located in Clare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
  • Geels
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Geels is located in Roscommon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geels

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Houghton Lake. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Houghton Lake.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Houghton Lake. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Houghton Lake.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Houghton Lake. See our Newspapers Page for Houghton Lake.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Houghton Lake ...

Looking for more information about Houghton Lake? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Houghton Lake, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Houghton Lake.

Adding Houghton Lake to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Houghton Lake in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Houghton Lake was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Houghton Lake post office opened in 1875.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Houghton Lake.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Michigan's counties, including Roscommon, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Houghton Lake - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Houghton Lake). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Houghton Lake or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/