Belmont’s post office opened in 1818, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 122 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1880.
Belmont was originally known as Wrightstown, and under the latter name was laid out in 1808 by Joseph Wright. The name was switched to Belmont in anticipation of being the county seat of Belmont County. St. Clairsville, however, was given the honor of having Belmont County's center of government. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cut through the town until its dismantling in the 1980s.
Passages that mention Belmont, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio1880 · page 363Read the page →
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Jlear the spot where sections 28, 29, 34 and 35 corner in Kirkwood township. Belmont county, Ohio, was a grand old spring of pure, cold water, which served as a watering place for the pioneers of the settlement that was made in close proximity to it about tho year 1815 or 1810. The settlement was known by the name of “Union," after the name of the log meeting house, which was also built near this spring in 1819. and of which the writer will speak more at length in another place. In 1807
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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley1880 · page 363Read the page →
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Hear the spot where sections 28, 29, 34 and 35 corner in Kirkwood township. Belmont county, Ohio, was a grand old spring of pure, cold water, which served as a watering place for the pioneers of the settlement that was made in close proximity to it about the year 1815 or 1816. The settlement was known by the name of “Union,” after the name of the log meeting house, which was also built near this spring in 1819, and of which the writer will speak more at length in another place. In 1807
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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio1880 · page 404Read the page →
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still remaining, but they have united with other churches of their faith outside of Goshen township. In fact the first church organized within the township, was probably the friends Church at Belmont. Their deed for a lot for a meeting house and grave yard was executed March 16, 1808, and it appears they met for worship at the school bouse previous to this time.
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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley1880 · page 404Read the page →
Read the text
still remaining, but they have united with other churches of their faith outside of Goshen township. In fact, the first church organized within the township, was probably the Friends Church at Belmont. Their deed for a lot for a meeting house and grave yard was executed March 16, 1808, and it appears they met for worship at the school house previous to this time.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Belmont, 1818 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), 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.
1908
2015
2009
2004
