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–Not graded
History · Belleville

Belleville’s post office opened in 1886, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Dr. John Grace House and Hospital. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1888 on.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Belleville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Belleville began

When was Belleville founded?

1886

The Belleville post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fergusons Mill (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 312140 years
Founding year: the first Belleville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Belleville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18884 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1984. Watch Belleville change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belleville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belleville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSpring Lake Bridge, Spanning Bob Barnes…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Belleville on the map, 1888 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belleville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Belleville on the 1888 USGS mapBelleville on the 1890 USGS mapBelleville on the 1972 USGS mapBelleville on the 1984 USGS map1888Dardanelle #3 sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Belleville.

The story so far

Belleville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Belleville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Belleville is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 312 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 441 to 312 (-29%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Belleville, 1878 to 1889

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Fergusons Mill post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Fergusons Mill post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Belleville post office opens
  5. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1889Born hereMary McCormic is born here
By decade

Belleville, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Spring Lake Bridge, Spanning Bob Barnes Branch at County Road No. 36DDate?Spring Lake Bridge, Spanning Bob Barnes Branch at Cou…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Spring Lake Bridge, Spanning Bob Barnes Branch at County Road No. 36D
Retake this viewSpring Lake Bridge, Spanning Bob Barnes Branch at County Road No. 36D

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Belleville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Belleville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Dr. John Grace House and Hospital
Dr. John Grace House and Hospital
Buildings
Dr. John Grace House and HospitalBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Belleville’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Fergusons Mill, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fergusons Mill
1878–1886
Belleville
1886–today
18701950today
1cemetery inside Belleville
Russell

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

CorinthIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Belleville’s history

What year was Belleville founded?

The Belleville post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Belleville?

One place: the Dr. John Grace House and Hospital (listed 2015).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.