Bassett was founded as a company town, created in 1903 by the Iola Portland Cement Company for its 900 employees. The largest cement plant in the nation, it was sold in 1917 to the Lehigh Portland Cement Company, which closed its doors in 1970. The plant is now occupied by other businesses, but from Washington and Portland you can see the vestiges of other remains. The company workers' houses have been removed or demolished, and the plant's quarry is now a lake and recreational center.