CHASSELL

Region: Keweenaw Peninsula

St. Anne's is a handsome introduction to Chassell for motorists heading north.

Chassell is the village on U.S. 41 between L'Anse and Houghton that motorists drive through on their way to Houghton and beyond. It's on Pike Bay off Portage Lake, part of the Portage Waterway, which can't be seen from the road. First settled by French farmer John Chassell in 1867, Chassell grew into a substantial place in the 1880s because of its location on a railroad and on Pike Bay. Lumber drives floated logs on the Sturgeon River south from Covington and beyond to booms in Pike Bay, where they waited to be sawn. The large house on U.S. 41 at the corner of Chassell-Painesdale Road is the Hamar House, built by the owner of a very large lumber company. French-Canadian immigrants were attracted by the rich farmland, by the magnificent timberlands of the Sturgeon River area, and by work opportunities. By 1890 the Chassell area was half French. Over 15 fishing boats were busy here during the fall herring run. The Dormer Fish House, active from 1930 to 1968, cleaned, salted, and packed herring to be shipped.

Chassell's history is well told in words and photos at the Chassell Heritage Center and online at chassell.info. Scroll way down to "history." This content-rich, user-friendly Chassell website reveals many natural attractions and diversions under "exploring Chassell" and "Park/Recreation." The site also has maps and Chassell Cemetery and historical records for genealogists. It could be a model for other towns and cities.

Interesting places like this doll and crafts shop are scattered throughout Chassell's downtown along U.S. 41, the main entrance to Houghton-Hancock and points north in the Keweenaw.

Chassell is still known for its strawberry farms, though reduced in number. Berries thrive in the cooler, moist lakeshore area. The strawberry story is featured at the Chassell Heritage Center. Chassell's lively Strawberry Festival, held the first weekend after the Fourth of July, features tasty strawberry shortcake, a wonderful small-town parade Saturday at 11 a.m., and a historical fashion show at 2 p.m. at the heritage center.

Chassell is today has become a slightly upscale bedroom community for Houghton, with a farming heritage, newish exurban faculty houses, and its own very small K-12 school system. (For decades, faculty wives taught in Chassell. It was no surprise for bright children of dairy farmers to, say, go to MIT.) The successful Einerlei gift shop and garden was started in 1975 in what had been one of downtown Chassell's many rundown commercial buildings. Proprietors Nancy and Bill Leonard had quit their jobs as a special ed teacher and electrical engineer in Indiana, and then spent a year exploring the Middle West and Canada. Their store has inspired more antique and crafts shops to open up along U.S. 41, going several miles north. "Einerlei," their website explains, means "one and the same" in German. Their philosophy has been to have their work and their play ‘one and the same.'" The results of their steady energy is found all over town, most noticeably at the history museum and the Friends of Fashion, but also from Bill's long tenure in township government resulting in the appealing streetscape and waterfront park with many family activities.

The 10K Chassell Classic Cross-Country Ski Trails start and end at the parking lot of the Chassell Heritage Center in the former school on Second Street up Second Street from U.S. 41 at the north end of town. One K is illuminated. Skating rinks are next to the Heritage Center and at Centenial Park. The Chassell Ski Trails wind through forests and along the wooded hillside, with views of the Portage Waterway. The Copper Island Classic Ski Race takes place here in January and the Carl Olsson Memorial Run in August.

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PLACES AROUND CHASSELL TO

Eat Sleep Camp