Freedman's Ridge

The Ridge, also known as Freedman's Ridge, is at the junction of Farm roads 449 and 2751, two miles southeast of Omega in northeastern Gregg County. It was established after the Civil War by emancipated slaves. The Pleasant Hill Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (later the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church), founded in 1870, served as the focal point of the community. The settlement was named for its location on a small rise. In 1911 the Port Bolivar Iron Ore Railway was built through the community, linking it with nearby Longview. After World War II the community declined, and in the early 1990s only a church and scattered dwellings remained at the site; descendants of the original African-American settlers still lived in the area.