Family Roots: A visit to Washington, Missouri

On my way to Bull Shoals Lake from St. Louis on August 11, 2022, I had to make a stop in Washington, Missouri to pick up a charger for my dad (that is a story for another time).

I decided I couldn’t be so close to my great grandpa's store - Asel's Market that operated from 1912 to 1965 - without visiting it. My great grandpa was Donald Norman Asel, but everyone called him "Pet." My grandpa was Norman Donald Asel. My dad, Donald Bryan Asel, is named after them.

It was a beautiful, sunny Thursday afternoon, perfect for exploring.

So after picking up my dad's charger, I drove to the corner of 2nd Street and Lafayette Street, a couple blocks from the beautiful Missouri River, in downtown Washington and took some photos of the building that, 110 years ago, opened as Asel's Market and now in 2022 is Angelina’s Italian Market. The building looks very different but is in great shape:

Angelina's Italian Market (formerly Asel's Market from 1912 to 1965)
in downtown Washington, Missouri. Photographed August 11, 2022.

Unfortunately they were closed so I couldn’t go in, but I snuck a photo through the glass front door. How cute is this store?

Inside Angelina's Italian Market in downtown Washington, Missouri.
Photographed August 11, 2022.

There wasn’t anybody walking around downtown that day, but I saw one woman watering flower pots on the steps of the post office catty corner to the market so I crossed the street to talk to her.

I told her who I was and why I was visiting. She told me the Washington Historical Society was only a couple blocks away and that I should go there for more information on the market.

So I did.

The staff people at the Washington Historical Society were so helpful and pulled old newspaper clippings and photos for me. Great grandpa is referred to as "D.N. Asel" in the photos in the newspaper clippings.

These are awesome artifacts! (And look at those prices - chuck roast and sausage links were 17 cents a pound? And pork chops were 19 cents a pound?)

Newspaper clippings courtesy of Washington Historical Society in Washington, Missouri.

In addition to the cool old newspaper clippings above, they also searched their digital archives and found a couple photos of Pet.

Pet and his wife (my great grandma) Elsa are in the bottom left corner of this photo. I don't know who the other people are nor what the occasion was, but they all look happy, which makes me smile. **After initially publishing this blog and sharing it with my Asel-side of the family, my Aunt Kristen -one of Pet and Elsa's grandchildren- identified the couple on the right of the photo as Edmund Otto and his wife who, at the time, owned Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipe in Washington, Missouri, which according to their website is considered the world capital of corn cob pipes! It was originally founded by a Dutch immigrant woodworker named Henry Tubbe.

Photo courtesy of the Washington Historical Society in Washington, Missouri.
Date unknown.

Donald Norman "Pet" Asel. Date unknown.

Photo courtesy of the Washington Historical Society in Washington, Missouri.

After my visit to the Washington Historical Society, I decided I might as well continue the adventure and try to find the house where Pet and Elsa lived. My dad remembered it was on Cedar Street but didn't remember the house number. I had passed Cedar Street on my way to the market so I knew where to head from the Historical Society.

I got to Cedar Street but didn't know which direction to look for their house. I pulled my car over and parked under a giant shade tree. I pulled out my phone to attempt to find their full address buried somewhere in the interwebs. Trying to find great grandpa didn't pull any results, so I decided to try searching for great grandma Elsa instead.

To my luck, the website "Ancestry" had Elsa's 1940 Census filing (she was 46 at the time), and her address was printed plain as day: 429 Cedar Street in Washington, Franklin County, Missouri.

So I looked up from my phone as I sat in my parked car to see where on Cedar Street I was so that I could head towards 429.

To my shock, I was already sitting in front of 429! (How serendipitous is that?!)

Such a beautiful house!

This photo is from standing in front of my parked card before

I realized I was already at 429 Cedar Street!

Photographed August 11, 2022.

Standing on the sidewalk at the front entrance of 429 Cedar Street.

Photographed August 11, 2022.

The garden side of 429 Cedar Street.

Photographed August 11, 2022.

I also HAD to get a look at the back of the garage. Growing up, I had heard a funny store on multiple occasions: that great grandma Elsa had driven her boat of a car through the back wall of the garage, so great grandpa built her a "bump out" just big enough for the nose of her car to fit.

So I walked around the sidewalks for a bit looking for a view of the back of the garage. I was curious if the bump out was still there.

I finally got a vantage point from the sidewalk (I did not trespass on the current owners' property!) where I could see the back of the garage and - lo and behold - the bump out is still there!

Standing on the sidewalk with a view of the garage behind 429 Cedar Street.

Photographed August 11, 2022.

And here is the photo zoomed in with an arrow to show the bump out:

The "bump out" Pet Asel built after his wife, Elsa,

drove her big car through the back of the garage.

Photographed August 11, 2022.

After visiting great grandpa and grandma's house, I headed back to I-44 to get on the road to Bull Shoals Lake; my parents were waiting for me. This was a great side trip, and I loved visiting my great grandparents' town!

xx,

Ashley Mansur Asel (great granddaughter of Pet and Elsa Asel)