A. Summary
a. History of Charlestown/ Pleasant Ridge
i. Before its official founding in 1808, the then-frontier village known as presently Charlestown was primarily renowned for milling. (3)(9) ii. In fact, Charlestown was seen as partially responsible for the fatal decline of the adjacent frontier village called Springville, in the early 1800s. Springville was considered decadent, due to how local Native Americans would become intoxicated after trading. (9) iii. Charlestown was named after one of its surveyors, Charles Beggs, upon 300 acres in southeastern Indiana within present day Clark County on the border with Kentucky. (9) iv. From 1811 to 1878 Charlestown was the county seat of Clark County but as adjacent Jeffersonville had surpassed it economically, the county seat moved to Jeffersonville in 1878. (9)
v.…show more content… In 1940 the population of Charlestown was 900, but it swelled to 13,400 due to the building and operation of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant. The INAAP was (at least) known to store explosives. (9) vi. Regardless of the situation in life, the residents of Charlestown instilled in themselves and their descendants an untenable sense of pride. This is noted by the town’s motto “Generations of Pride”, which is located on the crest outside of the City Hall office. (1) vii. Initially the influx in population of the city created a housing problem, as chicken, wood, and wash houses had to house all the new residents who flocked to the area for the jobs created by the INAAP. Additional problems caused by the rapid influx of new residents was improper sanitation at restaurants, inefficient sewers, gambling, panhandling and diseases such as typhoid and malaria. (9) viii. In 1942, approximately 354 prefabricated WWII-era properties were built near the center of Charlestown to alleviate the demand for housing. This neighborhood would go on to be known as Pleasant Ridge.
