Pleasant Grove Church
Founded 1873
Where everyone is Welcome!

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Church History: Founding Families
Compiled by Donna Jacobs

Pleasant Grove Community Church is a non-denominational church located in Milford Twp., Story County, Iowa., northeast of Ames.  Church services were held as early as 1855 in the little red brick schoolhouse east of the church yard.  During a homecoming Sunday in 1932, Mrs. Agnes Dodds told how she had attended services in the schoolhouse in 1856.  There is a mention in Methodist conference records of a Rev. John Parker being the first circuit rider in Story Co. in 1855.  Methodist conference minutes also show a record from 1872, that states "An estimating committee of three was appointed, the committee consisted of Wakefield, Warrick and Smith."

It was decided that the church should be built and fifty community families agreed to take on the task.  No exact date of completion can be found but it probably didn't take them long as these pioneer folks were used to hard work and doing things for themselves, even to the point of erecting their own homes, barns and churches.

The site chosen for the church is outstanding for its natural beauty.  The church was built in a rural area of Story County.  Pleasant Grove Cemetery is directly behind the church and the church and cemetery are surrounded by woods.   Rural churches are rapidly becoming a memory in Iowa and Pleasant Grove is the only church for many miles that stands in its original construction, which is a tribute to the craftsmanship of these early pioneers.  The land for the church building site had been deeded by T. R. Hughes and his wife Eleanor to the trustees of the church for $25.00.  The deed was recorded in December of 1877.

Following is a list of fifty two families who took on the job of building the church, also on this list are Mrs. George Sowers and Mrs. F. T. McClain who cooked for the workers while they worked on the church.  We have been told that many sons of these families also helped in the building.

Families who built the church:

 

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