History Of Big Spring Pleasant Hill Twp. 3 miles NE of Pleasant Hill on the road to Martinsburg Contributed by Billie Browning April 2009 The spring of 1822 two brothers named Buchanan settled at "Big Spring". (From History of Pike County, Chas. Chapman & Co 1880) Photo of Anna (Windsor) Browning, his grandmother That "big rock" is a huge concrete trough....the horses would drink out of it. When I was a youngster, a few of the fellows would put a six pack or a case of beer in there to cool it off. In the old days, people from Martinsburg and Pleasant Hill would gather nearby for picnics....it was a real gathering place in the summers. It's a landmark in that area. A few years back a young man (boy scout) heard that they might tear down the old trough because it was now too close to the road. As his scout project he and some volunteers moved it further back from the road. It has sunk quite a bit, but it's still there and the cold spring water still runs. My father told me a story, when he was a young man and courtin', one Saturday night he had gone from near Martinsburg to Pleasant Hill in his horse and buggy.....he said on returning home, most of the time you could just let loose of the reins and the old horse would take you home. On the way home he feel asleep and there near the "big springs" he was suddenly bolted awake. He and his cousin Herman Sander had locked buggy wheels on the narrow road. This is "Big Springs" 2009 located between Pleasant Hill and Martinsburg, IL. A few years ago a Boy Scout, Brian Armstrong, of the area, for his Eagle Scout project moved the tank further back from the road. It is believed the old tank was constructed around 1918-1918.