The site of Cassville was occupied by the Meskwaki people before European settlement. In 1820, Henry Schoolcraft observed a Meskwaki village consisting of twelve substantial log lodges and cultivated fields in the locality.
The Euro-American settlement of Cassville began in 1827, when Judge John Sawyer of Illinois established a smelting furnace to serve lead miners who were expanding northward from Galena, Illinois. The town attracted sixty to seventy people in its first year. By the early 1830s, Cassville held several log cabins, a tavern, a general store, and a blockhouse constructed during the Black Hawk War.
Passages that mention Cassville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Grant County, Wisconsin1881 · page 845Read the page →
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Cassville was organized as a town in 1849, it being one of the original towns of the county. It at that time embraced, besides its present limits, the town of Glen Haven. In 1859, it was divided, the present town if Glen Haven being set off" as a new town, leaving Cassville's boundaries as at present defined. The first town-meeting was held at the Cassville House, on Tuesday, May 3, 1849. J. M. Scott was elected Chairman, and E. H. Gleason, Secretary. On motion, the Chair appointed a committee of five, namely. Oris McCartney, I. C. Lander, E.
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[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 845Read the page →
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Cassville was organized as a town in 1849, it being one of the original towns of the county. It at that time embraced, besides its present limits, the town of Grlen Haven. In 1859, it was divided, the present town if Glen Haven being set off" as a new town, leaving Cassville's boundaries as at present defined. The first town-meeting was held at the Cassville House, on Tuesday, May 3, 1849. J. M. Scott was elected Chairman, and E. H. Gleason, Secretary. On motion, the Chair appointed a committee of five, namely, Oris McCartney, I. C. Lander, E.
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History of Grant County, Wisconsin1881 · page 553Read the page →
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Of the early settlement in other parts of the county, I cannot say much. I know, however that Tom Himer was at Cassville as early as 1824. He and some others went with some lorses up to the Selkirk settlement, and on his return down the river, he stopped at Cassville, ffld remained a short time. He lived in a cabin formerly built by a Frenchman. Himer iftei-ward came to the Hazel Green diggings.
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History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 610Read the page →
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The first school was taught at Cassville in 1834 by Miss Maria Barber, afterward the wife of Alexander D. Ramsey. In 1835 Miss Barber taught at a point about half way between the village and the McCartney settlement to accommodate both settlements. At this school one of the girls, Elizabeth Walker, dropped her thimble through a crack in the floor and reached her hand down to get it (the puncheon floor presenting rather capacious cracks) when a large yellow rattle¬ snake bit her on the hand. R. Shipley came along on horseback just
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Cassville, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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