Isabella County Seat / The Founding of Mount Pleasant

The state legislature organized Isabella County on February 11, 1859. A commission appointed by the governor established the county seat at Isabella Centre. To encourage settlement on the land he owned in Isabella County, lumberman David Ward deeded five acres in present-day Mount Pleasant to the county on the condition that the county courthouse be erected on that land. In 1860 voters approved the transfer of the county seat to Mount Pleasant, and a simple frame building was constructed on the site as the first courthouse. The county built a stately brick courthouse on this site in 1877. That building was demolished in 1972. The Founding of Mount Pleasant During the 1850s lumberman David Ward purchased land in section 15 of Union Township. In 1860 he platted the village of Mount Pleasant with land set aside for a courthouse square. Harvey and George Morton, developers from New York State, purchased Ward’s property in 1863. Isaac A. Fancher surveyed and recorded the plat of Mount Pleasant for the Mortons in 1864. The village was roughly bounded by Lincoln Street, Wisconsin Street, Lansing Street, Oak Street, and the Chippewa River. Water-powered milling, lumber processing, and county government formed the basis of Mount Pleasant’s growth after the Civil War. On April 16, 1875, the state legislature incorporated the village of Mount Pleasant.