Pleasant Ridge Cemetery is known as "Thirteen Steps" cemetery due to a legend of a 13th step that appears after dark. The cemetery is said to be haunted by the spirit of Thankful Blackburn, a woman who may have been a witch, whose tombstone bears a foreboding inscription about life and death, preparing for the afterlife. The legend states that twelve steps are visible by day, but a thirteenth emerges at night, adding to the cemetery's chilling reputation in Iowa. The Thirteen Steps: The most prominent legend is about a staircase that transforms after sunset. By day, there are only twelve steps, but a thirteenth step mysteriously appears after dark, enhancing the cemetery's eerie atmosphere. The cemetery is associated with Thankful Blackburn, a woman some believe was a witch. Her tombstone carries a cryptic message: "What you are now so once was I. What I am now so you must be. Prepare in life to follow me". This message is often cited as a source of the cemetery's chilling reputation. Pleasant Ridge Cemetery is considered one of Iowa's most haunted locations, a quiet country cemetery by day but transformed by night with dark legends and ghost stories.