Towns Along the Line · Milepost CF 77.3

Pleasant Garden, NC

Guilford County · Altitude 805 ft.

History

This community in south Guilford County was known first as Fentress after a local family when Frederick Fentriss — note spelling difference — opened a post office and was named postmaster. It was renamed Pleasant Garden about 1879, and was incorporated in 1998 to avoid annexation by Greensboro. The town is at an altitude of 805 feet above sea level. For more town history, please visit their web site http://www.pleasantgarden.net/history.htm

The 1916 ICC valuation recorded Pleasant Garden’s depot as a standard Type 3 combination station — “same in all respects to other Type 3 depots in this valuation section” — with a metal-shingle gable roof and a chert passenger platform of about 315 square yards; its oil house followed the older standard plan dated November 1905. The section layout ran to two standard dwellings, a tool house, a barn, pig pens, and a well lined with terra-cotta pipe. The valuation’s chaining notes also record a dedicated industrial spur at the station (see Industries).

The tracks at Pleasant Garden had a capacity for 14 cars in 1943. Today the line is active with Norfolk Southern trains. Former Mayor Anne Hice has shared some photos (while wishing to share credit with Ms. Nancy Jo Smith). Thanks to Kevin Von der Lippe from the NHRS Greensboro Chapter for making the connection that allowed me to share these photos.

Pleasant Garden depot, ca. 1948, color photo by Cheek, Anne Hice Collection — Pleasant Garden depot, ca. 1948. Photo by Cheek, Anne Hice Collection. Click for full size.

A color photo by Cheek taken in 1948 — so nice to have an early color image, but time has had an impact. Note the single gray color used in this time period.

Pleasant Garden depot, ca. 1930s, Anne Hice Collection — Pleasant Garden depot, ca. 1930s. Anne Hice Collection. Click for full size.

An earlier photo depicting the two-tone paint scheme — which may be the Southern’s yellow and green scheme or perhaps a light and dark gray scheme.

A&Y consolidation 254 with mixed train at Pleasant Garden, ca. 1937, Anne Hice Collection — A&Y 254 with mixed train, Pleasant Garden, ca. 1937. Anne Hice / Nancy Jo Smith Collection. Click for full size.

A mixed train pulled by consolidation #254, ca. 1937, from the collection of Anne Hice (former Pleasant Garden mayor) and Ms. Nancy Jo Smith. This is likely the mixed train heading down to Ramseur, hauling a Norfolk & Western GJ class gondola, a composite gondola, a low-side gondola perhaps from the Pennsylvania Railroad (given the herald), and two fairly tall box cars before the combine.

A&Y consolidation 315 with passenger train at Pleasant Garden, ca. 1937, photo by Younts or Way — A&Y 315 with passenger train, Pleasant Garden, ca. 1937. Photo by Younts or Way. Click for full size.

What I believe to be a “normal” passenger train consist on the A&Y — a baggage car followed by two coaches. This train, photographed by Younts or Way in 1937, is headed by consolidation 315 instead of one of the three ten-wheelers the A&Y used for passenger service.

A&Y ten-wheeler 113 at Pleasant Garden, ca. 1937, photo by Younts or Way — A&Y 113 at Pleasant Garden, ca. 1937. Photo by Younts or Way. Click for full size.

Ten-wheeler #113 at Pleasant Garden, 1937, photographed by Younts or Way. I would expect this to be the more usual passenger power, but the Depression was likely to have the A&Y do whatever was necessary.

One of the last passengers on the A&Y at Pleasant Garden, ca. 1939, Anne Hice Collection — Last passenger at Pleasant Garden, ca. 1939. Anne Hice Collection. Click for full size.

One of the last passengers on the A&Y as passenger service ended in May 1939. Anne Hice Collection.

Tribute to postmistress Anne Neeley in The Tarheel Postmaster, 1948, Stanley M. Cichowicz Collection — Tribute to postmistress Anne Neeley, *The Tarheel Postmaster*, 1948. Stanley M. Cichowicz Collection. Click for full size.

The post office was once located in the A&Y depot and run by postmistress Anne Neeley. This is a tribute to her published in The Tarheel Postmaster, 1948. Stanley M. Cichowicz Collection.

Postmistress Anne Neeley at Pleasant Garden depot, with her flower garden — Postmistress Anne Neeley at Pleasant Garden depot. Stanley M. Cichowicz Collection. Click for full size.

Postmistress Anne Neeley with the flower garden she maintained at the A&Y depot. Stanley M. Cichowicz Collection.

Track Diagram

ICC valuation map of Pleasant Garden track and depot layout — Track and station layout from ICC valuation blueprint v27-20. Click for full size.

An image from the ICC valuation maps gives a fair idea of how the track and depot were laid out.

On an A&Y timetable in 1934, Pleasant Garden was listed as a stop with capacity for 14 cars.

Industries

A Southern Railway Shippers Guide from 1916 did not mention any industries in Pleasant Garden using the A&Y for delivering and receiving products by rail (although some may have used the station or team track rather than having a dedicated siding). The ICC valuation map depicts a Pleasant Garden Manufacturing Company. I will add other industries as I receive information about them; for example, Mr. Thomas Hefner mentioned that Boren Brick was located there in later years.

Industry	Goods Shipped/Rec’d	Company Name
factory	unknown	Pleasant Garden Manufacturing Company
brick	brick	Boren Brick (est. 1948)
furniture	furniture	Founders Furniture Co., est. 1948 (now Hooker Furniture Co.)

Odds and Ends

Here I will include any information that is non-railroad in nature that helps provide a hint as to the character of the people and industries who lived and worked in Pleasant Garden. I welcome any and all information about this former A&Y community!