PLEASANTVILLE HISTORY
At the beginning...Jonathan Bowen and his family were early settlers who bought most of the land Pleasantville was built on from Frances Drumgold in 1783. Bowen's son Benjamin owned the land when the town was laid out. Parcels were sold off to other parties. William Hancock built the first house in 1824, with Benjamin Bowen building one about the same time. Hancock also built a grist mill in 1833.
Benjamin Walker came to the Pleasantville area in 1827, being a farmer, a shoemaker, and an active abolitionist. It is said he was a leading operator on the underground railroad. The first store was run by Moses Dubbs in 1833. Samuel Dubbs built a tannery in 1840. The first hotel was opened in 1858, run by David Sleek. Pleasantville was Incorporated as a borough on March 10, 1871.
In 1855, the post office, originally established at Alum Bank, was moved to Pleasantville but retained its Alum Bank designation.
This information based largely on The History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania and research of Carol Bowen DeLaurentis.
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