Founding year: the first Belle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle’s overall grade.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Belle’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Belle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A post office called Belle has been in operation since 1895.Belle, Missouri was named after Belle Wallace, an early local resident. Local history records note that when the railroad arrived and local merchants met to name the town, they chose to name it after her because she was the only unmarried girl living in the area at that time.The Namesake: Belle Wallace was born near Dixon, Missouri in 1886 and moved to the local prairie area with her family.The Decision: Town founders and merchants chose her name during a community meeting around the time the railroad depot was established. Belle was a depot on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, commonly known as the Rock Island.
The Belle post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Belle rank for history?
Belle is more historic than 20% 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 Belle?
5% of Belle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (6), 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.
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