Chassell House - 1906 - Gillette, WY
N 44° 17.311 W 105° 30.246
13T E 459780 N 4904042
Built in 1906, the house at 610 S Gillette Ave, Gillette, WY, was once the home of Henry Jones Chassell, who played a very significant role in the formation of the county in which you're standing.
Waymark Code: WM12GCT
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 05/23/2020
Views: 1
Please respect the rights of the property owner by taking only photographs and leaving only footprints. This colorful house is certainly Victorian, with an asymmetrical floor plan, crossed gables, and a hint of gingerbread trim on the porch that takes up a significant amount of space along the front façade. Brick covers the first floor, while stucco covers the second. There's also a garage out back, but there is no indication as to whether it is original or a later add-on modeled to resemble the house.
The stone out front identifies the house by name, noting the year of its construction, and referencing Crook County, to which this area belonged until Mr. Chassell got to work. The letters are painted, with "Chassell House" in red, "Built in 1906" in light green, and "Crook County, Wyoming" etched into the stone and colored in gray. The other lettering has a black outline that is also incised into the stone.
Information about the Chassell House is elusive, although a quote from page 14 from the 2011 edition of Images - Gillette-Campbell County, Wyoming (see link, below) yields its provenance:
"Henry Chassell was the legislator who wrote the bill creating Campbell County. His home was at the corner of Seventh Street and
Gillette Avenue, where the current owner has a sign reading 'Chassell House.'"
Henry Jones Chassell himself is equally elusive. His final resting place is with his family at Riverside Cemetery in Appleton, WI, and his Findagrave page provides a similar blurb:
Rancher, stockman, real estate. Served in Wyoming Legislature. Introduced bill to create Campbell County out of Crook and Weston Counties in 1911. Credited with being responsible for creation of Campbell County, WY.
Images is best perused by downloading the PDF, a copy of which is available from me should the link go invalid.