Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Aline | Volunteers Maintain Place of Rest Established on Sheep Skin

A steel archway built by members of Home Welfare Club serves as the entryway to Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Aline.

Originally drawn out on sheep skin, Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Aline was incorporated on November 16, 1897, and today serves as a place of rest for more than 560 former residents of Alfalfa County. Often called Boiling Springs Cemetery and sometimes remembered as Gulick Cemetery after its first sexton, the gated grounds are well maintained and surrounded by quiet wheat fields and pastures dotted with grazing cattle.

Headstones mark graves of loved ones buried in Aline Pleasant Ridge Cemetery. A modern community shelter was donated by family members and friends of Max and Vereta McBride in 2022.

History of Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

One of two Pleasant Ridge Cemeteries in Alfalfa County — the other being in Carmen, Aline Pleasant Ridge Cemetery received its official designation on November 26, 1897, when a patent was issued for a corporation called Pleasant Ridge Cemetery. It's not clear, however, which Pleasant Ridge Cemetery — Aline's or Carmen's — recorded the first burial. While Carmen has a gravestone marked 1896, the cemetery was not organized officially until 1903, and a deed for land was not filed until 1905.

Similarly, though, while a patent was issued in 1897 for Aline's Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, a deed for land was not recorded until May 14, 1910, when Orra and Anna B. Lawrence paid $30 for the property. A second deed granted to George H. and Florence E. Dale extended the cemetery 11 rods to the west, and the cemetery remains the same size today.

A gate remains open at all times on the north side of the cemetery. Visitors who enter should be respectful of cemetery grounds, maintained by local volunteers through donations.

Aline Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Maintenance & Operation

Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Aline has been maintained by local volunteers and designated sextons since its founding. The steel archway at the entrance, along with gates and fencing, was built by the Home Welfare Club following fundraising efforts that paid for materials. The modern community building at the cemetery was donated in 2022 by friends and family members of Max and Vereta McBride. Each Memorial Day, the cemetery flies the flag that was placed on the casket of Lester Hood when he returned from service in Okinawa, Japan, during World War II.

The community building at Aline Pleasant Ridge Cemetery offers shelter during funerals and memorials.

Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Aline Original Board of Officers

• John C. Miller, President

• J. L. Watkins, Vice-President

• J. W. Wilt, trustee

• J. R. Miller, trustee

• J. S. Somers, trustee and secretary

A plaque inside the community building notes the donation of the shelter in 2022 in loving memory of Max and Vereta McBride.

Sextons for Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Aline

• Henry Gulick

• Bill Atkinson

• Bert Beckwith

• Harry Morse

• Buren Easterling

• Francis Sacket

• Elvin Beckwith

• Eugene Sloan, present

The modern community building at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Aline sits on the west side of the cemetery and serves as a shelter for funeral and memorial gatherings.

How to Get to Pleasant Ridge Aline Cemetery

On the southwest corner of County Road 510 and Blaine Road, Pleasant Ridge Aline Cemetery sits 5 miles west and 2 miles south of Aline and 6 miles west of Sod House Museum. Visitors should be prepared to drive on dirt roads.

Resources: Oklahoma Cemeteries