Fassett Department Store
Rio Grande County
The store was the first, largest, and longest surviving retail establishment in Monte Vista. Widow Lillian Loretta Silsby Taylor founded the store in a small wood frame building in 1881 and, with her new husband Charles Fassett, erected this stone replacement building in 1898.
Fassett Department Store (1999 photograph.)
The couple supplied nearby farmers and miners with groceries, furniture, and a complete line of dry goods. The store continued under Fassett family management for ninety-nine years.