In the near future, we also hope to include some of our early church membership rolls as part of the historical record of our church and as a genealogical resource for those who are descended from our early church members.

We are pleased to present to you

John Jordan and his family settled in the extreme southern part of DeSoto Parish in 1844. Soon, relatives and friends from Alabama joined the Jordans and formed a small community. Since they were from Pleasant Valley, Dallas County, Alabama, they named their new home Pleasant Hill. In a very short time, many of the original settlers became wealthy cotton farmers and turned their attention to improving the quality of life in their growing community.

By the early 1850s, Pleasant Hill had become a thriving village, a center of refinement and education. By the time the Civil War began, Pleasant Hill boasted a post office, a hotel, a school for girls, the Pierce-Payne Methodist College for Boys, and a Methodist church - the very same Methodist church we have today.

On April 7, 1864, Yankees invaded Pleasant Hill and looted the town on their way to the Battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864. The next day, April 9, 1864, the Yankees came back through Pleasant Hill. The Battle of Pleasant Hill left 1,200 men dead or wounded on one of the bloodiest battlefields of the war. Pierce-Payne Methodist College for Boys was used as a hospital for the Yankees, while Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church was used as a hospital for the Confederates.

The Pleasant Hill Academy for Girls operated from 1850 to 1870. Pierce-Payne Methodist College for Boys opened in 1858 as a companion school to Mansfield Female College, but construction on many of its buildings was never completed because of the Civil War. Yet, the legacy of these colleges and the citizens who supported them continues to linger in an insistence on educational excellence by residents of Pleasant Hill today.

In 1881, the Texas and Pacific railroad passed within four miles of Pleasant Hill, across the parish line in Sabine Parish. Since the railroad did not come to the town, the town simply picked up and moved to the railroad. What had been Pleasant Hill came to be called Old Town, while the new town was named Sodus by the railroad commissioners. Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church was loaded onto logs and pulled by oxen to its present location in the new town of Sodus.

Old habits sometimes refuse to die and residents of Sodus continued to refer to their town as Pleasant Hill. In 1922, the railroad commissioners gave up the name Sodus in favor of the name Pleasant Hill.

Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church looks much as it did when it was built, except for the addition of Sunday School rooms to the back of the building. The pews and pulpit were probably made by a local carpenter, since they are put together with nails instead of screws. The timbers, except for one or two under the main sanctuary are all original, and square nails can be seen in the siding and under the church in the foundation timbers. The bell in the bell tower still rings.

The steeple was donated by Rev. & Mrs. D.L. Dykes, Jr. and Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Dykes in memory of their parents, Mr. & Mrs. D.L. Dykes, Sr.

The present membership of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church is 62.

Webmaster’s Note: Resources for this history of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church include Karen Hardee and Frank Dutton. Karen is a member of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, Frank is the web designer and webmaster for Toledo-Bend.com. Karen is a member of my family – and Frank was my sounding board when I was learning to build my very first web pages. The history of the town and church has been pieced together from oral history, a booklet published by Amos J. Barron, The Battle of Pleasant Hill by Solon F. Benson, and various newspaper clippings.

Early Membership Rolls