Pleasant Hill, Sabine Parish, Louisiana

Entrance to Pleasant Hill Battle Park

Pleasant Hill Town Hall

Pleasant Hill High School

First Baptist Church in Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill is a village in Sabine Parish in western Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 1,232 . It is best known as the site of The Battle of Pleasant Hill, fought in April 1864.

History

Pleasant Hill was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. Every April, a reenactment of the battle is held. It is one of the few reenactments staged at the actual battlefield of the engagement.

The Pleasant High School Lady Eagles won the 2006-2007 Class C State Basketball Championship on March 3, with their record of 36-5, for the first time in eighteen years.They also won the Class C State Track & Field Championship that same year. These championships were won under the leadership of Coach Sheryl A. Scott, a resident of Pleasant Hill.

The Pleasant High School Mighty Eagles won the 2011 Class C State Basketball Championship, for the first time in sixteen years. They defeated Family Christian with a score of 79-61. This championship was won under the leadership of Coach Brian S. Williams.

The Pleasant Hill Lady Eagles once again were afforded the opportunity to win the 2014-2015 Class C State Championship; however was unsuccessful in their attempt, and claimed the Class C State Runner-up title instead. This title was won under the leadership of Coach Jeremy Leach and Assistant Coach Laneisha Holmes.

Pleasant Hill is the birthplace and burial site of the legendary Shreveport minister D. L. Dykes, Jr., who pastored the large First United Methodist Church there from 1955-1984. Dykes was a pioneer of television ministry and a voice for racial harmony during the civil rights movement.

Geography

Pleasant Hill is located at 31°49′5″N 93°31′0″W (31.818013, -93.516715).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.0 km²), all land.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1900	300		—
1910	442		47.3%
1920	554		25.3%
1930	807		45.7%
1940	737		−8.7%
1950	856		16.1%
1960	907		6.0%
1970	826		−8.9%
1980	776		−6.1%
1990	824		6.2%
2000	786		−4.6%
2010	723		−8.0%
2014 (est.)	718		−0.7%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 786 people, 293 households, and 200 families residing in the village. The population density was 505.4 inhabitants per square mile (194.5/km²). There were 337 housing units at an average density of 216.7 per square mile (83.4/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 58.78% White, 35.11% African American, 3.18% Native American, 0.13% Asian, and 2.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.91% of the population.

There were 293 households out of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the village the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $18,068, and the median income for a family was $35,625. Males had a median income of $38,125 versus $17,500 for females. The per capita income for the village was $13,188. About 26.8% of families and 30.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 43.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public schools in Sabine Parish are operated by the Sabine Parish School Board. The village of Pleasant Hill is zoned to Pleasant Hill High School [1] (Grades PK-12).

Notable people

• Oscar K. Allen, governor of Louisiana from 1932–1936, taught school for a time at Pleasant Hill in the first decade of the 20th century.
• D. L. Dykes, Jr., Shreveport United Methodist clergyman
• Edgar Hull, co-founder of both the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, practiced medicine in Pleasant Hill from 1929-1931.
• W. Ray Scott, the mayor of Natchitoches from 1960–1976, was born in Pleasant Hill in 1923. He worked to procure university status for Northwestern State University.