Houghton was not merely a port for raw materials and wholesale goods, but a city whose central waterfront location attracted manufacturing and industrial operations throughout its history, much of them tied to copper production in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Its role in the local copper industry grew with the development of the Copper Range Company mines south of the city in the late 1890s, when flat land along the western waterfront became the site of the company’s railroad and dock facilities. While focused mainly on shipping copper ores and concentrates, the Copper Range Railroad also operated a successful public passenger service, and its docks handled the transfer of millions of pounds of copper ingot from nearby smelting works. Supporting industries included the Carroll foundry on the eastern waterfront, which produced cast iron and brass fixtures, engines, pumps, and other machinery, and the adjacent Pryor Lumber yards, which supplied construction lumber and large timber supports for underground mines. Other service industries included the Croze dry dock, where lake vessels were repaired and built, and the Portage Lake Mining Gazette, which published the city’s first newspaper and provided binding and printing for area businesses. Houghton also took a leading role in regional utility development when the Peninsula Electric Light and Power Company completed a major power generation plant in 1890, and the city had already welcomed the area’s first telegraph wires in 1866 and its first commercial telephone lines in 1878 through James Dee. Its factories produced goods ranging from wagons and harnesses to soap and cigars, while food and drink industries included the Haas Brewing Company, the Armour meat factory, and numerous bakers, confectioners, and candy makers. These industries required a steady work force, helping create a large and varied pool of laborers, which in turn increased demand for housing, services, and consumer manufacturing. Although the decline of Michigan copper mining eventually weakened intensive manufacturing and related industries, Houghton continued to attract smaller-scale businesses that drew on a skilled local work force.