Over in Missouri there is a peaceful town with the aptly descriptive name of Pleasant Hill. As usual, I started my day at the local coffee shop — Press Monkey Studio. Being in a historic building in old Downtown is a double plus. But what sends it over the top is the ambiance and the Mocha Frappucino I ordered, which Martha made with real cream that she whipped, dark chocolate (the healthy part of this order), and the beans ground in the circa-1940 grinder. Pictures speak better than my words.
Here is Martha grinding the coffee beans just for me. Now, that is extra-special service, and oh so appreciated.
And now for the ambiance. Can you feel it? This is the loft. I could sit here for hours, reading a novel while sipping my frappe, or watching the town’s life happen from the overlooking windows.
Martha sat and chatted with me about why this coffee shop holds so much meaning for her. She said relationships happen here, and since life is mainly about relationships, she gets to be a part of watching profound events occur: first dates, a career woman finalizing her LLC with her lawyer, school children forming friendships, sisters with busy lives reconnecting… What a valuable insight into seeing how the local coffee shop serves as a lynchpin in maintaining connectedness.
Pleasant Hill has a sweet old town district. Many of the buildings have been turned into boutiques. Many are still waiting for someone to set up shop in them once again.
Brown’s Vintage & Variety is on this main street (First Street). They do have an enormous variety and plenty of vintage to peruse.
The owner, Alyn Brown, is showing me a historic photograph of local Pleasant Hill people. This is the very reason I always encourage people who are searching for their ancestors to stop in the antique stores in the region where their ancestors lived. The store could have some of your family photos! What an exciting discovery that would be.
My final stop of the day was to the Pleasant Hill Museum, which houses the historical society. A gentleman greeted me as I entered. I asked him about their archives. Dr. Robert E. Kennedy, the curator, is a quiet gentleman, who is a retired university Mathematics professor. He has organized the entire history of Pleasant Hill, more so than any other town repository I have ever seen. I was astounded by what he has accomplished. He has made it so easy to find anything on almost anyone.
He has created rows of file cabinets with thousands of folders. He does not have training in Library Science, but he has the ordered mind of a mathematician to systematize massive quantities of information, outside of a computer. It is really quite impressive.
Beyond the files, Dr. Kennedy has created endless binders. People of the region are constantly donating family documents and photographs. There are congregant memberships of the churches, cemetery readings, probate records, etc.
My favorite portion of this archives are the property abstracts Dr. Kennedy has created for many of the homes in this town. I have never seen a professional archivist do the extra work to produce house histories. It can be a laborious process to obtain deeds or a chain of title, and reconstruct who the previous owners of a home were. Dr. Kennedy has done it for his town. What a gift. If I had a home there, I would love to know about the people who shared that spot on this earth with me.
Dr. Kennedy’s wife, Beverly, writes the Pleasant Hill Historical Society Newsletter. I am holding one in my hand now. Mrs. Kennedy is just as talented as her husband in bringing history back to life.
I will return to Pleasant Hill again. The name was perfectly chosen. It is definitely a pleasant place to spend a day.