Mount Pleasant

History

The first permanent settlement at Mount Pleasant was made in 1833. Mount Pleasant was incorporated as a town in 1842, and again in 1851. In 1869, Mount Pleasant was the site of a solar eclipse expedition, under the command of James Craig Watson and sponsored by National Almanac. The total solar eclipse occurred on August 7, 1869. In the Union Block building in 1869, Arabella A. Mansfield became the first woman in the United States to be awarded a license to practice law. She had passed the bar exam with high scores and won a court case for entry to the bar. The legislature changed its statute. The third floor of the Union Block housed the Opera House or Union Hall, a gathering place for the community. It attracted national speakers on tour, including abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Anna Dickinson. James Harlan also spoke there, as he was president of Iowa Wesleyan College in the town, and later was elected several times to the United States Senate. This building had been considered one of the most endangered historic sites in Iowa. The Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute was built in 1861. However, in 1936, a fire did great damage to the original building. Beginning in 1976, many of the hospital facilities were transferred to the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, which still occupies the campus. The hospital itself was closed in 2015. On December 10, 1986, Ralph Orin Davis, a resident, walked into a city council meeting and shot Mayor Edward King and two council members. Mayor King died of his wounds after being shot point blank in the head. The 69-year-old gunman had attended a couple of previous meetings, complaining about a backed-up sewer and wanting the city to pay for damages to his house. The two council members were seriously…

Geography

Mount Pleasant is in central Henry County at the intersection of US Routes 218 and 34. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. Mount Pleasant's population density is estimated at 1,123 people per square mile, which is considered low for urban areas.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  314
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  299
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  269
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  269
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  203
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  194
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  192
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  178

Largest nearby schools

• Mount Pleasant High School
  High · Mount Pleasant · 582 students · 13.9:1 ratio
• Mount Pleasant Middle School
  Middle · Mount Pleasant · 406 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Van Allen Elementary School
  Elementary · Mount Pleasant · 315 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• New London Jr-Sr High School
  High · New London · 303 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Clark Elementary School
  Elementary · New London · 289 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Harlan Elementary School
  Elementary · Mount Pleasant · 220 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Lincoln Elementary School
  Elementary · Mount Pleasant · 211 students · 11.7:1 ratio
• Salem Elementary School
  Elementary · Salem · 97 students · 13.9:1 ratio