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Bellevue MillBellevue Mill · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0
AHistory
History · Bellevue Township

Bellevue Township dates to 1812, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #78 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Bellevue Mill. Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1870.

1812founded
1on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bellevue Township began

When was Bellevue Township founded?

1812

Bellevue Township dates its founding to 1812 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 608 in 18702020 census: 3,200214 years

How historic is Bellevue Township?

A

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1835.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bellevue Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellevue Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #78 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bellevue Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1812, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194033.6% of homes (±6.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 3.1 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 89%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bellevue Township’s 3.1 sits above most of its state (72% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 points). Two sources give 1812.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Bellevue Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bellevue Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19186 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1985. Watch Bellevue Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1812: 214 years of Bellevue Township.Old housesHalf of Bellevue Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bellevue Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bellevue Township on the map, 1918 to 1985

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

Bellevue Township on the 1918 USGS mapBellevue Township on the 1947 USGS mapBellevue Township on the 1950 USGS mapBellevue Township on the 1961 USGS mapBellevue Township on the 1972 USGS mapBellevue Township on the 1985 USGS map1918Battle Creek 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 Bellevue Township.

Timeline

Bellevue Township, 1812 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1812
    FoundingBellevue Township is established
  3. 1835Post officeThe Bellvue post office opens
  4. 1841Post officeThe Bellvue post office closes
  5. 1841Post officeThe Bellevue post office opens
  6. 1852BuiltBellevue Mill is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Bellevue Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bellevue Township.

Read it all →

Bellevue was founded by Captain Reuben Fitzgerald, a War of 1812 veteran, in 1833. Bellevue was also the first town founded in Eaton County and the original Eaton County seat and location of the county court house until Charlotte's founding. The west side of town is home to a large limestone bed, which has been continually mined for over a century and was used to help build the Michigan State Capitol. The Limestone Quarry was preserved by the efforts of Darwin W. Kuhl. Bellevue is also home to abandoned Burt Portland cement factory. The factory opened in 1904 and became one of the largest in Michigan though closed due to bankruptcy in 1928. Also called the “Burt Brand of Rock Portland Cement”, the plant shipped product around the whole state, as well as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The ruins can still be found in South West Bellevue near the environmental park.[1] Bellevue is…

Chapters2010 census2000 census

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bellevue Township, decade by decade

Today17 recent
Hollenbeck-Butler House2018Hollenbeck-Butler HouseHenry A. Hunsiker House2018Henry A. Hunsiker HouseMunicipal Building2014Municipal BuildingJohn Hall House2014John Hall HouseHenry Robinson House2014Henry Robinson HouseGrand Trunk Depot2014Grand Trunk DepotDowntown2014DowntownBellevue Mill2014Bellevue MillBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, MichiganBellevue, Michigan2012Bellevue, Michigan
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bellevue Township

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
1975
Bellevue Mill
Bellevue Mill, built 1852
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic style Grist Mill1
Bellevue MillGothic style Grist Mill · Built 1852

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

People over time

Bellevue Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,401

Between 608 and 1,401 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bellevue Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Bellvue, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bellvue
1835–1841
Bellevue
1841–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bellevue
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bellevue Township
Bellevue RiversideFollettSpaulding

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.

Walton Township1 historic placeB+Assyria TownshipIts storyBKalamo TownshipIts storyB+Convis Township2 historic placesA

Questions about Bellevue Township’s history

What year was Bellevue Township founded?

In 1812, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bellevue Township’s post office opened in 1835, and the census of 1870 counted 608 people here.

How does Bellevue Township rank for history?

Bellevue Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #78 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Bellevue Township?

One place: the Bellevue Mill (listed 1975).

How old are the homes in Bellevue Township?

34% of Bellevue Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1959.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.