Belleville (named place)

Belleville was formed around 1834, located at around S Belleville Road and West 700 South. Once a scenic location with a prosperous saw mill, and later a grist mill, Belleville is no more. The four-story grist mill burned down in 1955, and though the dam remains, it is no longer in use. Indiana DNR recommends using caution around any low-head dams like this one as they can have tricky undercurrents that can trap individuals under water.

In an article in 2005, it was stated that some logs from the original dam may remain as well as a fish ladder on the end of the dam.  

If you pull off to the road and look west (downstream), you should be able to see the rapids formed by the dam.

Please do not go closer as you will be trespassing on private property.

Belleville was originally named for James Stewart, who was a Scottish immigrant, the local blacksmith, and a bell maker. The town began to form around 1834. In 1849, Gabriel Swihart built a log dam in the river to operate a saw mill. In 1849, James Taylor built a grist mill four stories tall.  The main feature of Belleville was its mill, The mill changed hands many times over the course of its existence. Farmers would often spend nights in the mill, as they waited for their grain to be processed.  The mill had several close calls with fires. A fire destroyed the top two stories of the building in 1930, however the mill continued operation until 1953. Another fire took the rest of the building in 1955. The dam was damaged in the flood of 1913, so it was replaced with a concrete dam close to the same site.

Aside from the mill, Belleville also had a grocery store, a blacksmith shop, a school, and a church. Baptisms for the church were performed down by the river, which was said to be a very scenic location. According to local legend, a very sick person named Columbus “Lum” Myers was discovered to have not been baptized, so he was taken out in the middle of December to be baptized before he died. Strangely, the preacher seemed to lose his train of thought while in the middle of the baptism, resulting in onlookers shouting at him. Miraculously, Lum recovered and went on to live for several more years.

The spelling of the town's name has been both Belleville and Bellville. The former is used here since it is the way it is spelled on the road sign that leads to its former location.

1.  “DNR: Stay Away From Low-Head Dams At Any Cost”, NPR, WFYI. https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/dnr-stay-away-from-low-head-dams-at-any-cost. Accessed 12 May 2022.
2. “Jefferson Township: Ghost Towns and scenic drives”, The Huntington Country TAB. http://www.huntingtoncountytab.com/feature/890/jefferson-township-ghost-towns-and-scenic-drives. Accessed 10 Aug 2023.
3. “’The Small Places’ Bellville: Hamlet by the Mill” Herald Press [Huntington IN], 8 Jan 1979.
4. “Centennial Observed This Year” Herald Press [Huntington IN], 26 Jun 1949.
5. Combination Atlas Map of Huntington County, Indiana. 1879. Kingman Bros.
6. Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7217038,-85.4607395,291m/data=!3m1!1e3. Accessed 12 May 2022.