Cassill Place Historic District retains integrity as a surviving segment of the former Cassill Place, a residential haven for wealthy citizens of Carthage in the period between 1890 and 1925. Originally two blocks long, the once-stylish district has shrunk to one block, surrounded by commercial development along Central Avenue. However, this one block contains eight houses [now seven, a non-contributing house has been demolished] that retain a high degree of integrity and demonstrate important stylistic trends of the period between 1890 and 1925...
the homes on this residential block retain the character of the period between 1890 and 1925, exhibit high artistic values, and illustrate important trends in architecture that occurred between the last decade of the nineteenth century and the middle 1920's. The district is significant in the area of architecture for the following reasons: Cassill Place was an important turn-of-the-century neighborhood that was pictured in a Souvenir Album of Carthage, Missouri, a Chamber of Commerce publication of that era as one of the most desirable residential areas in the city. The fine homes in Cassill Place are expressive reminders of an age of prosperity during which Carthage was promoted as "the ideal spot of the universe" by a Chamber of Commerce pamphlet. Cassill Place retains several late Victorian homes of exceptional merit. Perhaps the most notable of these is the Queen Anne style home built by Eugene O'Keefe, who came to Carthage in the 1870's and engaged in business, eventually becoming director of the First National Bank. The Fenimore House is a fine example of the Eastlake style, with a sweeping veranda featuring turned posts and jig-sawn brackets. The McFadden House illustrates the movement toward simplicity and classicism after the turn of the century, and the Dennison House exemplifies the twentieth-century bungalo style, with an interesting use of a Carthage marble veneer. As a group these houses form a cohesive residential unit and convey a definite sense of the period between 1890 and the 1920's.
The houses in the Cassill Place Historic District are in good to excellent condition. Although homes continue to serve as private residences.