Pleasant Plains, IL

Pleasant Plains grew where a stagecoach route from Springfield to Beardstown crossed Richland Creek. Jacob Epler's general store and John Adams' blacksmith shop formed the early village center, and Epler platted the settlement; the village incorporated in 1864. A Methodist church connected the name to the surrounding rolling prairie, while the road and creek gave the community its first practical shape. The village is 17 miles west of Springfield on Illinois 125, in the Springfield metropolitan area.

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Transportation kept changing the map. The Pana, Springfield and Northwestern Railroad arrived in 1872, and its depot remained until 1962, while Clayville's Broadwell Inn and Tavern sits about a mile east and preserves the stagecoach-era connection. The Pleasant Plains Historical Society works on that local history, and the village government still handles zoning, alerts, and ordinary municipal business from Village Hall. The school district also connects the village to nearby farm communities. Pleasant Plains' local clue is its sequence: creek crossing, stage stop, railroad village, and Springfield-area community.