Pleasant Grove Cemetery

Mills County's voters supported Democratic candidates in almost every presidential election from 1888 to 1948, breaking only in 1928 for Republican Herbert Hoover. From 1952 they often went Republican, voting for Dwight D. Eisenhower, for Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1972, for Ronald Reagan in 1984 and for George Bush in 1988, before a plurality chose Bill Clinton in 1992. The economy changed too: by 1982 eight manufacturers employed 100 workers, and oil found that year produced 28,122 barrels before production ceased by 1990. The population grew slightly, to 4,531 in 1990.

What the plaque says

Pleasant Grove Cemetery Named for the live oaks banking Simms Creek, Pleasant Grove was settled by Civil War veterans from both the North and South. The farm of Tom Berry (1844-1926) of Alabama adjoined this cemetery, opened with the burial of his daughter Mary (1872-1876). Pleasant Grove Methodist Church and a community school also stood nearby. Donations maintained the site until a cemetery association was organized in 1969. Church trustees added 15 acres to the burial ground in 1970. In over 400 graves, many unmarked, lie early settlers and their descendants. (1977)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Colorado Bend State Park — 23 mi
  Old ranch country on the Colorado above Lake Buchanan, where a spring-fed creek drops 70 feet over fern-covered travertine at Gorman Falls.
• Hancock Springs Park — 26 mi
  Lampasas's city park on Sulphur Creek, with a spring-fed swimming pool that holds about 69 degrees all year, the walls of the old bathhouse and a golf course.

More markers nearby

• Long Cove Baptist Church — 4.7 mi
• Richard S. Stokes — 4.7 mi
• San Saba Peak — 6.0 mi
• Center City Cemetery — 6.7 mi