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B−History
History · Belleville

Belleville’s post office opened in 1852, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #189 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Library Park and the Belleville Illinois Central Railroad Depot. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1860.

1852first post office
2on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Belleville began

When was Belleville founded?

1852

The Belleville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 164 in 18602020 census: 2,491174 years

How historic is Belleville?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Belleville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Belleville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belleville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #189 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belleville’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.7% of homes (±3.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 7.8 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 48%

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Belleville’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (71% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 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 Belleville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Belleville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19233 editions of the USGS map, 1923 to 1971. Watch Belleville change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belleville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Belleville on the map, 1923 to 1971

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

Belleville on the 1923 USGS mapBelleville on the 1962 USGS mapBelleville on the 1971 USGS map1923New Glarus sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Belleville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Belleville.

Read it all →

At least some of the land the village now occupies was owned between 1838 and 1841 by Daniel Webster, the American statesman, who also speculated in land on the frontier. In 1845, John Frederick acquired property around the Sugar River and commenced construction of a dam and sawmill, and later a grist mill. By 1850, along with John Mitchell, Frederick platted the village and named it Belleville after his hometown of Belleville, Ontario.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Belleville, 1852 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Belleville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1958Born hereNancy Fahey is born here
By decade

Belleville, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Belleville Intermediate School2013Belleville Intermediate SchoolBelleville High School Football Stadium2013Belleville High School Football StadiumBelleville Fire Department2013Belleville Fire DepartmentBelleville Elementary School2013Belleville Elementary SchoolBelleville Cemetery2013Belleville CemeteryBelleville American Legion Post 4602013Belleville American Legion Post 460Belleville ACA Allertor 125 Civil Defense Siren2013Belleville ACA Allertor 125 Civil Defense SirenPrimrose Dairy Farm2012Primrose Dairy FarmSt. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church2010St. Francis of Assisi Catholic ChurchFormer St. Mary of Lourdes Catholic Church2010Former St. Mary of Lourdes Catholic ChurchBelleville Tower2010Belleville TowerBelleville High School2010Belleville High School
Every building

Belleville, building by building, 1908–1915

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Belleville fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Belleville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1981
Library Park
Library ParkBelleville Illinois Central Railroad Depot
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Library ParkQueen Anne
Belleville Illinois Central Railroad DepotBuilding

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

People over time

Belleville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900195020002,491

Grew from 164 people in 1860 to 2,491 in 2020, more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Montrose3 historic placesB+ExeterIts storyB

Questions about Belleville’s history

What year was Belleville founded?

The Belleville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Belleville rank for history?

Belleville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #189 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Belleville?

Two places: the Library Park (listed 1981) and the Belleville Illinois Central Railroad Depot (2016).

How old are the homes in Belleville?

13% of Belleville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 (12), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.