About Chassell
Chassell Township is located in Houghton County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
A portion of the Township borders Baraga County, Portage Township, Portage Lake, and Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay. The total land area for the Township is approximately 48 square miles.
During the 1880s, the site of the village of Chassell was purchased by the Sturgeon River Lumber Company for a sawmill and town site.
The village and surrounding area grew in population, resulting in the Township of Chassell being chartered in 1888 by the State of Michigan.
The village of Chassell served as a regional lumber processing center into the early 20th century. During the early 1900s, the Worcester Lumber Company was the largest sawmill in the Great Lakes region with the operations closing in 1928.
A Close-Knit Community
The lands of Chassell Township are largely rural in character with one main population center –
the community of Chassell.
The community is located on Chassell (Pike) Bay in the northern part of the township and is predominantly residential, with many homes located along the
shoreline of Chassell (Pike) bay and along and immediately west of its downtown on US 41.
Immediately north of town along Portage Lake is a concentration of year-round and seasonal homes, some of which are rented to tourists in the summer and MTU students during the school year.