Malissa (Dodson) Sides became the first person to be buried on this site in March 1891. Believed to have been half Native American, Mrs. Sides and her Cherokee half sister Ellen Murphy survived the U. S. government relocation of the tribe during their youth. The pair came to Collin County from Indian Territory with Malissa's husband Henry L. Sides.
In October 1891, charter Methodist church members Franklin J. and Nancy (Van Hues) Rominger donated an acre of land including Mrs. Sides' gravesite to the trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to be used as a public burial ground. The Romingers, Henry Sides and Ellen Murphy are all interred in the cemetery, as are descendants of these and other pioneer families.
For many years cemetery trustees raised funds and maintained the grounds through stew suppers and annual decoration days. A 1996 count revealed more than 1,000 graves, most with markers of some kind. The graves of 141 infants in the old north section bear witness to the harsh conditions of pioneer life; 7 Confederate and 52 other veterans of U. S. and international conflicts are interred here. Pleasant Grove Cemetery continues to serve the area. (1998)