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B−History
History · Bellevue

Bellevue dates to 1822, and 6 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #41 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it

Most of Bellevue was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1880.

1822founded
6on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bellevue’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bellevue began

When was Bellevue founded?

1822

Bellevue dates its founding to 1822 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 211 in 18802020 census: 64,176204 years

How historic is Bellevue?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855.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 50% of U.S. towns, #41 of 57 in Nebraska. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bellevue’s overall grade.
Founding era1822, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19403.4% of homes (±0.9) · typical NE town 17.8% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register6 listings, 8 historic buildings, 1.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NE town 16.3 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 29%

Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bellevue’s 1.2 sits below most of its state (24% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1822.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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.

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bellevue, and 7 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Deep rootsEstablished in 1822: 204 years of Bellevue.
★ What stands out · People over time

Bellevue, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,00018801900192019401960198020002020754 in 1890Low: 527

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Bellevue’s post office has been open since 1855. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bellevue
1855–today
Avery
1891–1908
Fort Crook
1896–1965
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AveryFort CrookGilmore JunctionGreen Acres Mobile Home ParkMartinview Mobile Home ParkParadise ParkWashington Mobile Home Terrace
Gone or out of use
Avery Post Officepost officeFirst Presbyterian ChurchchurchFort Crook Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bellevue
BellevueBeth Hamedrosh HagodelSaint Johns

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

On the National Register

6 historic places in Bellevue

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Fontanelle Bank
Fontanelle BankWilliam Hamilton House, built 1856Presbyterian ChurchOld Log CabinWilliam E. Gordon House, built 1936Bellevue College Dormitories
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival3
Italianate2
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Craftsman1
Fontanelle BankGreek Revival
William Hamilton HouseGreek Revival · Built 1856
Presbyterian ChurchGreek Revival
Old Log CabinBuilding
William E. Gordon HouseLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1936
All 6 listings
Bellevue College DormitoriesBuilding · listed 2017

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

The story

How Bellevue came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bellevue.

Read it all →

Established by European Americans in the 1830s, Bellevue was incorporated in 1855 and is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Nebraska. It has been credited by the Nebraska State Legislature as being the state's second-oldest incorporated settlement after Nebraska City; previously it served as the seat of government in Nebraska.

On May 12, 1908, a tornado hit Bellevue, leading to 20 deaths and $50,000 of damages.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bellevue, 1822 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1822
    FoundingBellevue is established
  3. 1855Post officeThe Bellevue post office opens
  4. 1856BuiltWilliam Hamilton House is built
  5. 1891Post officeThe Avery post office opens
  6. 1896Post officeThe Fort Crook post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1908In the archive"The Bellevue Tornado"
  9. 1908Post officeThe Avery post office closes
  10. 1936BuiltWilliam E. Gordon House is built
  11. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1965Post officeThe Fort Crook post office closes
  13. 21st century
  14. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 64,176
By decade

Bellevue, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
"The Bellevue Tornado"c. 1908"The Bellevue Tornado"
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown5 to date
Offutt Air Force Base, Glenn L. Martin-Nebraska Bomber Plant, Building D, Peacekeeper DriveDate?Offutt Air Force Base, Glenn L. Martin-Nebraska Bombe…Offutt Air Force Base, Glenn L. Martin-Nebraska Bomber Plant, Building A, 711 Nelson DriveDate?Offutt Air Force Base, Glenn L. Martin-Nebraska Bombe…Offutt Air Force Base, Glenn L. Martin-Nebraska Bomber Plant, Building C, 705 Nelson DriveDate?Offutt Air Force Base, Glenn L. Martin-Nebraska Bombe…Presbyterian Church, Franklin & Twentieth StreetsDate?Presbyterian Church, Franklin & Twentieth StreetsTown Hall, Main & Twenty-third StreetsDate?Town Hall, Main & Twenty-third Streets
Today3 recent
Sarpy County Museum2018Sarpy County MuseumUS Navy 090828-N-1928O-007 Vice Adm Carl V. Mauney, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, speaks during a Bellevue Chamber…2009US Navy 090828-N-1928O-007 Vice Adm Carl V. Mauney, C…US Navy 090827-N-1928O-028 Yeoman 1st Class Philip Deason reads to kindergarten students at Berther Barber Elementary S…2009US Navy 090827-N-1928O-028 Yeoman 1st Class Philip De…
On the map

Bellevue on the map, 1956 to 1994

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

Bellevue on the 1956 USGS mapBellevue on the 1969 USGS mapBellevue on the 1975 USGS mapBellevue on the 1984 USGS mapBellevue on the 1994 USGS map1956Omaha South sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

"The Bellevue Tornado"
Retake this view"The Bellevue Tornado", c. 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Start Bellevue’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view"The Bellevue Tornado": stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Offutt AFB2 historic placesCOmaha186 historic placesA−La PlatteIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bellevue’s history

What year was Bellevue founded?

In 1822, according to Wikidata. Bellevue’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1880 counted 211 people here.

How does Bellevue rank for history?

Bellevue is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #41 of 57 in Nebraska. 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?

6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Fontanelle Bank (listed 1969, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Bellevue?

3% of Bellevue’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.