Pleasant Plains is a village in

Sangamon County Sangamon County is a county located near the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 196,343. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital. Sangamon County is includ ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The population was 809 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village was incorporated April 8, 1876

Geography.

Pleasant Plains is located at (39.874221, -89.920106). According to the 2010 census, Pleasant Plains has a total area of , all land.

Demographics.

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 809 people, 310 households, and 228 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 310 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Asian, and 1.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 310 households, out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.00. In the village, the population was spread out, with 28.2% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 20 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.5 years. 47.1% of the population was male and 52.9% of the population was female. The median income for a household in the village was $46,053, and the median income for a family was $51,111. Males had a median income of $38,482 versus $25,446 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $18,714. About 3.5% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Pleasant Plains Historical Society.

In an effort to re-connect to its historical roots, the Pleasant Plains Historical Society was created by mayor Jim Verkuilan and his friends in 2009. Its stated purpose is “To acquire, restore and maintain historical sites surrounding the community.” The Historical Society promptly took steps to purchase the

Clayville, Illinois Clayville is a former roadside hamlet, inhabited from 1824 into the 1850s, located in Cartwright Township near Pleasant Plains, Illinois, United States. The settlement was never large but was firmly centered on a once-thriving tavern on the m ...

site, a goal accomplished in 2010. Clayville, a Lincoln-era stagecoach stop, had been operated by a predecessor of the

University of Illinois Springfield The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois, United States. The university was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1969 as Sangamon State University with a focus on post-graduate edu ...

from the 1970s until 1992. The Pleasant Plains Historical Society's affiliate, Clayville Historic Site, now operates the stagecoach stop and 1824 tavern building.

Notable people.

* Peter Cartwright, politician and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church leader * William J. Frey, Illinois state legislator, farmer, and businessman * James F. Short Jr., sociologist

References.

External links.

Pleasant Plains Web Site
{{authority control Villages in Sangamon County, Illinois Springfield metropolitan area, Illinois Villages in Illinois