Most of Belle Rive was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1900.
In 1852, Edmund P. Grant bought about 480 acres (1.9 km2) of federal land grants around what was to become Belle Rive. Grant was a wealthy land speculator from Montgomery County, Tennessee. At that time there was a corporation in Mt. Vernon that was attempting to build a rail line from St. Louis to Evansville, Indiana. It seems likely that Grant was buying land in anticipation of the construction of the railroad, intending to build a town. This early attempt at building a railroad failed during a recession in the mid-1850s. Grant died in 1863, after being chased from Mt. Vernon by a mob objecting to his Confederate politics.
Belle Rive was founded in 1871, coinciding with the opening of the St. Louis & Southeastern Railroad.
Passages that mention Belle Rive, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jefferson County, Illinois1883 · page 59Read the page →
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worked at railroading, and then entered the regular United States Army, serving till 1878, when he again took to railroading, coming to Belle Rive in 1879. He has charge of a section. He is the Superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Shields was married, December 31, 1879, in Belle Rive, to Sarah Alma Laird, daughter of Jesse Laird.
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History of Jefferson County, Illinois1883 · page 358Read the page →
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Belle Rive was laid out April 1, 1871, on Section 27 of Pendleton Township. It was surveyed by Mr Williams for Moses Waters, William Caniield and Jesse Laird, the owners of the laud upon which it is located.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Belle Rive, 1871 to 1942
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1871, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Belle Rive’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1900 counted 370 people here.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2019
