Pleasant Ridge Church

Grant Township,

Clark County, WIs.

Articles transcribed by Carol Mitte.

Pleasant Ridge Church has been also called: Ridge Church, 

Pleasant Ridge Community Church, 

and the Pleasant Ridge Methodist Church.

Located in the Town of Grant, Section 17, Clark County Wisconsin.

See South-east corner of Section 17 on the 1905 Grant Township Plat Map.

Clark County No-17069-21-Deeds-560

John Nichols and Julia Nichols, his wife to Fredrick J. Vine, Sim. Blackman, Thomas Huckstead , Henry Huckstead, M .T. Byrns and William Wilding, Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of The town of Grant, Clark County Wisconsin.

Warranty Deed, dated April 16, 1881. Recorded April 23, 1881. Conveys a parcel of land commencing at the Southeast corner of the SE ¼-SE1/4-Section 17, Township 24, R1 West, thence running West 10 rods, thence North 12 rods, thence East 10 rods, thence South 12 rods to the place of beginning.

This is approximately 1 acre of land, located at the corner of Highway 10 and Miller Avenue, Grant Township Clark County Wisconsin.

This photo, showing the bell tower in a slightly different location as the one on the building that is located there now is most likely the original church building that stood at the location, which burnt in the late 1920’s and was then replaced by another. The entrance and tower on the existing building are at the corner, and is not as high.

Pleasant Ridge Church

 

Historical Chronology

1880/Fall- lists Pastors name as J. E.Webster 38-77 members, New Pleasant Ridge Church.

1881-April 16, Deeded, recorded –April 23, 1881, to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the town of Grant, Clark County, Wisconsin by John Nichols and wife Julia Nichols.

1920s- First Church destroyed by fire.

1932 –New Church built,

1932-Nov. 26, Clayton Vine died while working on the church when he fell thru the vestibule entrance to the basement floor, near the south east corner of the building.

1952-Methodist Pastor Virgil W. Nulton, held services at Pleasant Ridge, Neillsville and Christi churches.-Virgil stopped to visit the Erickson’s a few years ago.

1960’s- The church was closed, and sat empty.

1995- Land and church building was bought by Sharon and Roger Erickson.

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Restoration Breathes New Life Into An Old Church

By Brian Wilson

Clark County Press- Sept, 20, 1995

Travelers on U.S. Highway 10 between Granton and Neillsville have been watching and wondering at the work being done on the old Pleasant Ridge Community Church.

In the past few months, a forest of overgrown trees and brush has been cleared from around the 63-year old building. In addition, most of the foundation has been replaced. These outside changes show nothing of the work being done inside of the building.

The cloth-covered tiles which formed the wall coverings in the church have been removed, exposing the beautiful white-pine planking of the walls. The tongue-and-groove hardwood floor still shows luster, even under a layer of dust, and the entryway at the front of the church is impressive even in its current decayed state.

The inspiration and perspiration behind this labor of love are Roger and Sharon Erickson of Black River Falls. The Erickson’s have spent the summer restoring the old church for use as a summer home. “We have a son who lives in Neillsville and a daughter who lives in Granton,” said Sharon Erickson. “When we would pass the church all the time and wonder at its history and why it was abandoned.”

On one trip, The Ericksons said they passed by and saw a “for sale” sign in front of the building. The owner of the building, said Sharon, had been a Chicago woman in her 70s who had recently died. 

The Ericksons jumped at the chance to restore the old building and quickly bought the property.  The couple is doing all the work on the building themselves. Roger is a general contractor who has had much experience at restoring older homes.

On a recent tour of the work sight, the Ericksons outlined their plans for the building.  In the back of the old church they plan to raise the roof and put in a second floor for a loft bedroom. They plan to replace the old windows with new ones and expand on the West side of the structure to build an enclosed porch.  “We were amazed at what good condition the structure was in,” said Roger. 

  One of the big projects for the couple will be the drilling of a well and the installation of a septic system at the site. The Ericksons plan to work on the church until they go south to Arizona for the winter and to start back up on the project next spring. 

When asked why they are bothering to restore the old building when they could start fresh and build new ‘they reacted strongly.  “It is more challenging to work with someone else’s ideas and shape them to your own,” said Sharon.  “Anybody could go and build a house to their wants, but it takes something to make what you want work within someone else’s designs,” she added.

“Besides, if you tear down an old building there is no way to replace it,” said Roger. “You can rebuild but you can never replace the history of the building.”

The Pleasant Ridge Community Church has definitely had a long and interesting history.   The original non-denominational church on the sight was built in the late 1800’s and was destroyed by fire in the late 1920’s.  The current building was built in 1932.

A headline from the Neillsville Press from the first week in December of 1932 reported that a man named Clayton Vine was killed while working at the church as he fell through a hole in the floor.  Despite the accident, the church was completed, the Methodists took over the church several years later, holding services there until the late 1960s at which time the church was closed.

Since the 1960s, the church has stood empty. In later years all that could be seen from the road was a bit of the church’s small steeple sticking out from behind the tangle of trees and brush.   The transformation from abandoned church to summer home is less then half completed. Next year will likely bring new challenges for the couple to face as they continue in their conversion process.

A clear view of the old Pleasant Ridge Methodist Church can finally be seen from U.S. Highway 10.
Until recently, a forest of tangled trees and brush hid the building.

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Web page by James W. Sternitzky PhD, July 29, 2007.

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