Belle Valley had its start when the Cleveland and Marietta Railroad was extended to that point. The Village of Belle Valley was incorporated in 1905.
On May 18, 1913, fifteen coal miners were killed in a mine explosion. The population of Belle Valley was about 1000 at the time.
During World War II, Belle Valley soldier Harry Torhan, who was born to Russian emigre coal mining parents, received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for evacuating four wounded soldiers while under mortar and small arms fire during the Battle of the Bulge.
A man named Bain made an entry of land not‘far from the present village of Belle Valley in 1806. Soon afterward he was joined by Richard Fletcher. These two men were the first settlers on the West fork of Duck Creek. For five years they were the only settlers ‘in that part of the county, but in 1811 they were joined by the McKees,
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There are now three shafts working in the different veins just north of Belle Valley, the Chris McKee plant being the finest in the valley between Caldwell and Cambridge, and is equipped with the latest improved electrical mining machinery. Practically all of the coal lands on both sides of the Marietta branch of the Pennsylvania railroad north of Caldwell, for a mile on each side have been bought outright. Other mines have already been located and at no distant day the little city of Caldwell will become the center of an important
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history of noble county, ohio,1904 · page 115Read the page →
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There are now three shafts working in the different veins just north of Belle Valley, the Chris McKee plant being the finest. in the valley between Caldwell and Cambridge, and is equipped with the latest improved electrical mining machinery. Practically all of the coal lands on both sides of the Marietta branch of the Pennsylvania railroad north of Caldwell, for a mile on each side have been bought outright. Other mines have already been located and at no distant day the little city of Caldwell will become the center of an important
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.
Timeline
Belle Valley, 1872 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (3), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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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