View source for Pleasant Ridge, Grant County, Wisconsin

{{short description|Ghost town in Grant County, Wisconsin}}
{{About|the ghost town|the unincorporated place in Iowa County, Wisconsin|Pleasant Ridge, Wisconsin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
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|official_name = Pleasant Ridge, Wisconsin
|settlement_type = [[Ghost town]]
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|subdivision_name1 = [[Wisconsin]]
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|subdivision_name2 = [[Grant County, Wisconsin|Grant]]
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|coordinates = {{coord|42|49|52|N|90|48|47|W|display=inline,title}}
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'''Pleasant Ridge''' is a former community in the [[Beetown, Wisconsin|Town of Beetown]], [[Grant County, Wisconsin|Grant County]], [[Wisconsin]], United States. Settled {{circa|1850}} by a family of [[Slavery in the United States|formerly enslaved]] [[African Americans]] from [[Fauquier County, Virginia]], Pleasant Ridge was a rural community with a significant population of formerly enslaved people and their descendants. The community declined in the 20th century, and the last African-American resident died in 1959.
==History==
In 1848, Charles Shepard and his family were released from slavery when their former enslaver, Sarah Edmonds of [[Fauquier County, Virginia]], died and freed them in her will. Charles; his wife, Caroline; his three children Harriet, John, and Mary; his brother Isaac; and his future sister-in-law, Sarah Brown, traveled to Wisconsin with Edmonds's nephew William Horner, who hoped to make his fortune in southwestern Wisconsin's lead mining industry. When he arrived, he discovered that the state's lead industry was in decline, and he instead purchased between 1,000<ref name="WHS">{{cite web|title=Pleasant Ridge: A Community of Black Farmers in Wisconsin|url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1576|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|access-date=August 21, 2020|archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117223101/https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1576|url-status=live}}</ref> and 3,000<ref name="GCHS">{{cite web|title=Pleasant Ridge: A Refuge for Former Slaves|url=https://grantcountyhistory.org/pleasant-ridge-a-refuge-for-former-slaves/|publisher=Grant County Historical Society|access-date=August 21, 2020|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018145148/https://grantcountyhistory.org/pleasant-ridge-a-refuge-for-former-slaves/|url-status=live}}</ref> acres of farmland in Grant County. The Shepards worked for Horner for several years before acquiring enough money to purchase 200 acres of land from him<ref name="WHS"/> for $1.50 per acre, laying the groundwork for the Pleasant Ridge community.<ref name="marker">{{cite web |title=Pleasant Ridge |url=http://www.wisconsinhistoricalmarkers.com/2013/09/pleasant-ridge.html |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Markers |access-date=August 21, 2020 |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805014613/https://www.wisconsinhistoricalmarkers.com/2013/09/pleasant-ridge.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1850s, African Americans fleeing enslavement in Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas settled near the Shepards' land.<ref name="WHS"/>
Many men from Pleasant Ridge served in the [[American Civil War]], beginning in 1863 when the [[Union Army]] allowed [[Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War|African American men to serve as soldiers]]. Charles Shepard enlisted and died at the [[Siege of Vicksburg]]. His son, John, also served in the Union Army, and died of disease toward the end of the war while he was returning to Wisconsin. At least eight African-American veterans of the Civil War returned to Pleasant Ridge after their service and some became farm owners.<ref name="WHS"/>
[[Image:United Brethren Church-Old World Wisconsin.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A recreation of the United Brethren Church, which was torn down in 1920, at the [[Old World Wisconsin]] [[open-air museum]] in [[Eagle, Wisconsin]].]]
In the years following the Civil War, more African Americans arrived in Pleasant Ridge. Some European American families moved to the area as well. The community's population peaked at between 100<ref name="WHS"/> and 200<ref name="wpt">{{cite web | title = Lost Towns of Southern Wisconsin | publisher = Wisconsin Public Television | date = October 28, 2014 | url = http://wpt.org/University-Place/lost-towns-southern-wisconsin | access-date = August 21, 2020 | archive-date = November 28, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161128085309/http://wpt.org/University-Place/lost-towns-southern-wisconsin | url-status = live }}</ref> residents, split fairly evenly between Black and White families. In 1873, the residents built Grant County District School #5, an early [[School integration in the United States|integrated public school]] that employed both Black and White teachers. The community established a cemetery in 1883, the [[Church of the United Brethren in Christ|United Brethren]] Church in 1884, and a community hall in 1898.<ref name="WHS"/><ref name="GCHS"/> In 1906 the women of Pleasant Ridge formed the Autumn Leaf Society, a philanthropic group that organized community dances and celebrations, including an annual [[barbecue]] each August.<ref name="WHS"/>
In 1895, Pleasant Ridge's African American residents owned nearly 700 acres of farmland, but in the 20th century the population began to decline. The community's small size and rural setting meant that residents had limited economic opportunities. Many younger residents moved to pursue education and careers in larger cities and other states. Ollie Green Lewis, a descendant of the Shepard family and the last African-American resident, died at Pleasant Ridge in February 1959.<ref name="WHS"/><ref name="GCHS"/>
In the 21st century, only the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery remains at the site with a historical marker erected by the Wisconsin chapter of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] in 1994.<ref name="marker"/> The United Brethren Church building was recreated at [[Old World Wisconsin]] [[open-air museum]] in [[Eagle, Wisconsin]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Grant County, Wisconsin}}
[[Category:African-American history of Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Ghost towns in Grant County, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Ghost towns in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Populated places in Wisconsin established by African Americans]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1850]]
[[Category:1850 establishments in Wisconsin]]