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History · Pleasant Grove

Pleasant Grove’s post office opened in 1850

Most of Pleasant Grove was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1960. Below: maps from 1899 on.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Pleasant Grove began

When was Pleasant Grove founded?

1850

The Pleasant Grove post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 330176 years
Founding year: the first Pleasant Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pleasant Grove’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pleasant Grove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18995 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1974. Watch Pleasant Grove change.Old housesHalf of Pleasant Grove’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pleasant Grove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pleasant Grove’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Pleasant Grove on the map, 1899 to 1974

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pleasant Grove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Pleasant Grove on the 1899 USGS mapPleasant Grove on the 1900 USGS mapPleasant Grove on the 1949 USGS mapPleasant Grove on the 1951 USGS mapPleasant Grove on the 1974 USGS map1899Flintstone sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pleasant Grove.

The story so far

Pleasant Grove, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pleasant Grove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Pleasant Grove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 353. Pleasant Grove is located east of Cumberland along Maryland Route 144 (Baltimore Pike), the old alignment of U.S. Route 40. Interstate 68, the new highway alignment, also runs through the CDP, with access via Exit 47 at the western end of the community.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 353 to 330 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Pleasant Grove, 1850 to 1899

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Pleasant Grove post office opens
  3. 1856Post officeThe Pleasant Grove post office closes
  4. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pleasant Grove, decade by decade

Today6 recent
2019-07-14 11 22 56 View west along Interstate 68 and U.S. Route 40 (National Freeway) from the overpass for Maryland S…20192019-07-14 11 22 56 View west along Interstate 68 and…2019-07-14 11 18 44 View east along Interstate 68 and U.S. Route 40 (National Freeway) from the overpass for Maryland S…20192019-07-14 11 18 44 View east along Interstate 68 and…2019-05-17 12 31 33 View west along Interstate 68 and U.S. Route 40 (National Freeway) at Exit 47 (U.S. Route 220 NORTH…20192019-05-17 12 31 33 View west along Interstate 68 and…2017-06-02 11 00 32 View north along Maryland State Route 948 (Jeffries Road) just south of Interstate 68 and U.S. Rout…20172017-06-02 11 00 32 View north along Maryland State R…2017-06-02 10 59 28 View south along Maryland State Route 948 (Jeffries Road) just north of Interstate 68 and U.S. Rout…20172017-06-02 10 59 28 View south along Maryland State R…2016-06-18 16 58 56 View east along Interstate 68 and U.S. Route 40 (National Freeway) just east of Jeffries Road in20162016-06-18 16 58 56 View east along Interstate 68 and…
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Pleasant Grove had its own post office from 1850 to 1856.

Pleasant Grove
1850–1856
18501940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Pleasant Grove’s history

What year was Pleasant Grove founded?

The Pleasant Grove post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.