The story
Read it all →How Bellwood came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Bellwood.
Bellwood was laid out in 1890 when the railroad was extended to that point.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Bellwood
Bellwood’s post office opened in 1880, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1880.
1880first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Quick answers
How Bellwood began
When was Bellwood founded?
1880
The Bellwood post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Patron (1874) and Bell (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 42 in 18802020 census: 407146 years
Founding year: the first Bellwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Bellwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Bellwood’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bellwood’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Bellwood on the map, 1899 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bellwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899David City sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bellwood.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Bellwood’s post office has been open since 1880. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Patron
Bell
Bellwood
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Bellwood, 1874 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1874Post officeThe Patron post office opens
- 1880Post officeThe Patron post office closes
- 1880Post officeThe Bell post office opens
- 1880Post officeThe Bellwood post office opens
- 1881Post officeThe Bell post office closes
- 1883Born hereP. L. Cady is born here
- 1899
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1901
Born hereRay Kegeris is born here - 1956Born hereJulie Schmit-Albin is born here
By decade
Bellwood, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?Today2 recent
2017
2005Then & 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.
Retake this viewGustav Rohrich Sod House
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bellwood’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Bellwood, census by census
Between 42 and 446 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bellwood’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Bellwood
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Bellwood’s history
What year was Bellwood founded?
The Bellwood post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.