Belleville, Illinois Belleville, Illinois Clair County Illinois incorporated and unincorporated areas Belleville highlighted.svg Wikimedia Commons: Belleville, Illinois Bird's Eye View of Belleville, Illinois in 1867 Bird's Eye View of Belleville, Illinois in 1867 Belleville (French: Belle ville, meaning "Beautiful city") is a town/city in St.

Clair County, Illinois, United States, co-extensive with Belleville Township.

The populace was 42,034 as stated to the Enumeration Bureau's 2015 estimates. It is the eighth-most populated town/city outside the Chicago Metropolitan Area and the most populated town/city south of Springfield in the state of Illinois.

Clair County, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

Belleville is the most populated town/city in the Metro-East region of the St.

1882 Harrison Machine Works tractor, made in Belleville.

Belleville Cathedral George Blair titled the town/city of Belleville in 1814.

Belleville was incorporated as a village in 1819, and became a town/city in 1850.

It is said that Blair titled the town/city Belleville (French for "beautiful city") because he believed that a French name would attract new residents.

Belleville was the center of the first meaningful German settlement in Illinois.

The first brewery in Illinois was established in Belleville and in 1868, Gustav Goelitz established the candy business that is known today as "Jelly Belly." The coal brought the steam barns to town, which allowed for the transport of many tons of coal to be shipped daily from Belleville to St.

The first style of homes in Belleville was simple brick cottages, known locally as "German street homes" or "row homes." However, there is a great range of architectural style with American Foursquare, French Second Empire, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, and Victorian. The Belleville Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, comprises 73 contributing properties. The "Old Belleville Historic District," was formed in 1974 and is the city's first historic district. The town/city also had two more historic districts: "Hexenbukel" (est.

Belleville's early German immigrants were scholarly, with most of them having graduated from German universities.

The Belleville Public Library is the state's earliest, predating the Illinois State Library by three years.

The National Civic League recognized Belleville as one of the ten 2011 recipients of the All-America City Award.

Belleville is positioned at 38 31 18 N 89 59 43 W (38.521567, -89.995208). According to the 2010 census, Belleville has a total region of 23.009 square miles (59.59 km2), of which 22.74 square miles (58.90 km2) (or 98.83%) is territory and 0.269 square miles (0.70 km2) (or 1.17%) is water. Richland Creek flows through much of Belleville.

The Belleville Philharmonic Society was formed in 1866, making it the second earliest philharmonic orchestra in the country. With the increase in black populace and migrants from the South, musicians advanced who played blues and jazz; later modern clubs were added to the scene.

Jay Farrar (now of Son Volt), Mike Heidorn, and Jeff Tweedy (now of Wilco) of the now-defunct alt nation group Uncle Tupelo are from Belleville.

Belleville Historic District Rowdies Rugby Football Club the only rugby football club in the Belleville area.

Belleville Running Club - a recreational running club based in Belleville organized under the Road Runners Club of America.

The club puts on training programs for the community, hosts group runs, performs improve service, and recently hosted the Belleville Main Street Marathon.

Belleville was titled an RRCA Runner Friendly Community for 2014-2019 (one of only 8 nationally).

Main article: List of citizens from Belleville, Illinois Saint Louis University Belleville Campus Four high schools two enhance (Belleville Township HS East, Belleville Township HS West), and two private (Althoff Catholic HS, Governor French Academy).

Belleville is also home to a mostly large undertaking school district.

Belleville District 118 has 9 elementary schools, (Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Union, Westhaven, Henry Raab, and Washington) and 2 junior high schools (Central Junior High and West Junior High).

The Belleville News-Democrat, is the city's daily newspaper.

Belleville receives the signals of most radio and TV stations based in St.

Belleville has three St.

Louis and the network via light rail: Memorial Hospital, Belleville, and College.

Illinois State Highways 15, 159, 177, 13 and 161 all pass through Belleville.

I-64 is an east-west highway extending from Wentzville, Missouri to Virginia Beach, Virginia and is the primary route from Belleville to downtown St.

Belleville has a bicycle trail that runs through the town/city from Southside Park to Southwestern Illinois College and Scott Air Force Base; it is mainly used for recreational purposes Belleville's region airports are Scott Air Force Base and Mid - America St.

Belleville is a sister town/city to Paderborn, Germany. Quick - Facts: Belleville city, Illinois, United States Enumeration Bureau, n.d.

"Labor and Industry Museum", Labor and Industry Museum: Belleville History, accessed 1 December 2010] Belleville Philharmonic Society Symphony Orchestra Archived November 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.

Belleville Sister Cities, Inc Archived March 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belleville, Illinois.

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclop dia Britannica article about Belleville, Illinois.

The Belleville Historical Society City of Belleville, Illinois.

Clair County, Illinois, United States

Categories:
Belleville, Illinois - Cities in Illinois - County seats in Illinois - German-American history - Paderborn - Populated places established in 1814 - Cities in St.