Houghton-Douglass Falls
waterfall in Houghton County, Michigan
Houghton-Douglass Falls (also known as Douglass Houghton Falls, Douglass Falls or Houghton Falls) is a waterfall in the U.S. state of Michigan. At 110 feet (34 m) from the top to its base, it is Michigan's tallest waterfall. It is located in the state's Upper Peninsula between the villages of Laurium and Lake Linden just off Highway M-26. It is designated by the state as a Scenic Site and Veterans Memorial Park, and named after Douglass Houghton – Michigan's first state geologist – and his cousin and assistant Columbus Christopher Douglass.
The waterfall is situated in a deep gorge that is flanked by sharp loose rock. Multiple deaths have been reported at this location, including one in September 2011. Part of the Keweenaw Peninsula, the falls expose two layers of volcanic rock which have been folded over younger, softer sandstone. The site includes 115 acres (47 ha) of land along Hammell Creek and frontage along M-26.
The property was purchased in 1949 by the Kuusisto family, then sold to the state in 2018 by Jim Kuusisto, a Vietnam War veteran who wished the site to be preserved as a veterans memorial. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources paid $300,000 (equivalent to $368,000 in 2024) and began developments for visitor accessibility and safety.
The public source identifies “Houghton-Douglass Falls” as waterfall in Houghton County, Michigan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Houghton-Douglass, Falls and waterfall.
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24061406. Authority coordinates are 47.207, -88.428. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 1949, 2018 and 2024.
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This entry incorporates text from “Houghton-Douglass Falls” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.