Mount Pleasant is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Jefferson County, Ohio Jefferson County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 65,249. Its county seat is Steubenville, Ohio, Steubenville. The county is List of Ohi ...

, United States. The population was 394 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area The Weirton–Steubenville, WV–OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Upper Ohio Valley, is a metropolitan statistical area consisting of two counties in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, Northern Panhandle of West Virginia an ...

. Founded in 1803 by anti-slavery

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s, the village was an early center of abolitionist activity and a well-known haven for fugitive slaves on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

History

Mount Pleasant was laid out in 1803. It was named for its scenic landscape. An early variant name was Jesse-Bobtown. In 1802 Nathan Updegraff of the Pennsylvanian Op den Graeff family settled north in Mount Pleasant. His family belonged to the 19th-century Quaker families of Ohio and produced a lot of Quaker Ministers and elders. In 1817,

Charles Osborn established ''The Philanthropist'', the first newspaper in the country advocating the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

, in Mount Pleasant. The abolitionist James Birney would later adopt the name '' The Philanthropist'' for his anti-slavery newspaper, published in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and distributed in New Richmond, Ohio beginning in 1836. In 1821, the Quaker abolitionist

Benjamin Lundy Benjamin Lundy (January 4, 1789August 22, 1839) was an American Quaker abolitionist from New Jersey of the United States who established several anti-slavery newspapers and traveled widely. He lectured and published seeking to limit slavery's expa ...

started publishing ''

The Genius of Universal Emancipation The ''Genius of Universal Emancipation'' was an abolitionist newspaper founded by Benjamin Lundy in 1821, in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. History The newspaper was originally Elihu Embree's '' The Emancipator'' in 1820, before Lundy purchased it the ...

'', another abolitionist newspaper, also in Mount Pleasant. The paper eventually moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. Lundy's house is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. Nathan Updegraffs son David Benjamin Updegraff (1789–1864) was a conductor of the

in Mount Pleasant. Most of the village has been designated a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

, the Mount Pleasant Historic District; it too is a National Historic Landmark.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

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 2010, there were 478 people, 192 households, and 143 families living in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 226 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.7%

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 ...

, 0.8%

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% Native American, 0.6% Asian, and 0.4% 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 0.2% of the population. There were 192 households, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% 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, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 25.5% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age in the village was 44.5 years. 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.2% were from 25 to 44; 32.2% were from 45 to 64; and 16.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 535 people, 201 households, and 158 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 222 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.57%

, 1.31%

, 0.37% Asian, and 0.75% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.19% of the population. There were 201 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.2% were

living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.03. In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males. The median income for a household in the village was $43,750, and the median income for a family was $46,591. Males had a median income of $39,821 versus $19,688 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 $15,647. About 7.7% of families and 9.3% 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 12.9% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education in the village of Mount Pleasant is provided by the Buckeye Local School District.

Notable people

* William Lawrence, Republican politician *

, abolitionist * Stephen Mason Merrill,

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 ...

clergyman * Stephen Dee Richards,

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

serial killer * Benjamin Stanton, sixth lieutenant governor of Ohio * David Benjamin Updegraff (1789–1864), conductor of the Underground Railroad, minister of Friends church * Jonathan T. Updegraff (1822–1882), physician and politician, served as a U.S. representative from Ohio from 1879 to 1882 *

Moses Fleetwood Walker Moses Fleetwood Walker (October 7, 1856 – May 11, 1924), sometimes nicknamed Fleet Walker, was an American professional baseball catcher credited with being the first Black people, black man to play major league baseball. A native of Mount P ...

, first African-American professional baseball player

References

{{Authority control Villages in Jefferson County, Ohio Populated places established in 1803 1803 establishments in Ohio Villages in Ohio