[2] Shelden began several copper mines in the area and, in 1865, established the First National Bank of Houghton.

[3] He was the first child born of a settler in Houghton County[3] Ransom Jr. attended both the Genesee and Mount Pleasant Military Academies in New York, then went to work for his father.

[3] In 1893, Ransom B. Shelden Jr. purchased several lots on College Avenue from his father's copper company.

Rice was the president of the First National Bank,[4] a founder of Houghton Chamber of Commerce in 1919, and a director of other Upper Peninsula businesses such as the Copper Range Railroad[5] and Ontonogan's Belt Mines.

The house retains its original wood siding, with fish scale shingles on the upper stories, and rough-cut sandstone forming the front porch.