Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1835.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bellevue’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellevue is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. 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’s overall grade.
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’s 6.4 sits above most of its state (78% 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 (±7.1 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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…
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Bellevue in 1929
Passages that mention Bellevue, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Pioneer history of Eaton County, Michigan, 1833-18661929 · page 81Read the page →
Read the text
Eaton County with two others was at a very early day included in the Township of Greene. Later the whole of Eaton County was included in the Township of Bellevue. Next the southeast quarter of the county was organized into the Township of Eaton but by act of legislature approved February 16, 1842, the present Township of Eaton Rapids was organized and ''the first township meeting shall
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Pioneer history of Eaton County, Michigan, 1833-18661929 · page 27Read the page →
Read the text
As we have seen the township of Bellevue comprised the whole of Eaton County until, by act of legislature approved March 11, 1837, it was subdivided and the Township of Eaton was created comprising the whole of the southeast quarter of the county. Who was the first settler of this vast area?
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bellevue. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Battle 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.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Bellevue
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
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Bellevue, census by census
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’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Bellevue’s history
What year was Bellevue founded?
In 1812, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bellevue’s post office opened in 1835, and the census of 1870 counted 608 people here.
How does Bellevue rank for history?
Bellevue is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Bellevue?
49% of Bellevue’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1941.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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