City (1990 pop. 42,785), seat of St. Clair co., SW Ill.; inc. 1819. Located in a coal-mining area, Belleville also has farm-related industries and printing, food processing, and a large variety of manufactures, including mining equipment, shoes, iron products, and building materials. Scott Air Force Base (est. 1917 for flight instruction) lies to the northeast; near it is the large MidAmerica airport.

City of Belleville
City
Welcome fountain coming into the city.
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	St. Clair
Area	mi² ( km²)
- land	mi² ( km²)
- water	mi² ( km²), 0.53%
Center
- coordinates	38°31′18″N 89°59′43″W / 38.52167, -89.99528Coordinates: 38°31′18″N 89°59′43″W / 38.52167, -89.99528
Population	(2000)
Density	/mi² ( /km²)
Mayor	Mark W. Eckert
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Location of Belleville within Illinois
Location of Illinois in the United States
Website : http://www.belleville.net/

Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 41,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of St. Clair County,⁶ and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Belleville is also the home of the newspaper, the Belleville News-Democrat. Belleville is in the Metro-East region of the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. Belleville's sister city is Paderborn, Germany. It is commonly said that Belleville has the longest Main Street in the world, stretching for 13 miles.^{[citation needed]} The first kindergarten in the United States was located in Belleville.^[1]

History

George Blair named the city of Belleville in 1814. Blair was born in 1760. Blair's family was of Scottish ancestry; his father was born in Scotland. Blair donated an acre of his land for the Town Square and an additional 25 acres that adjoined the Square for the new County Seat, thereby replacing the old county seat in Cahokia, Illinois. Belleville was incorporated as a village in 1819, and became a city in 1850. Although the name "Belleville" is French for "Beautiful City", most of the population is of a German heritage. After the failure of the German Revolution in the 1840s, many of the educated fled their homeland. Belleville was the center of the first important German settlement in the State of Illinois. At this time, an estimated 90% of the city's population was either German born or of German descent.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Topography

Belleville is located at 38°31′18″N, 89°59′43″W (38.521567, -89.995208).¹

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.2 km² (19.0 mi²). 48.8 km² (18.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.68%) is water.

Culture and contemporary life

Entertainment and performing arts

Jay Farrar, Mike Heidorn, and Jeff Tweedy (now of Wilco) of the now-defunct alt country group Uncle Tupelo are from Belleville along with Neal Doughty, keyboardist for 70's classic rock band REO Speedwagon. The City's Downtown is also home to blues, jazz, and rock clubs. Belleville Philharmonic Society was formed in 1866, making it the second oldest philharmonic orchestra in the country.^{[citation needed]}Belleville is also home to the Immediacy Theatre Project (ITP), a not-for-profit theatre company. ITP is dedicated to finding and exploring new, eclectic forms of theatre through immediacy.

National Register of Historic Places

• Belleville Historic District
• Gustave Koerner House
• Knobeloch-Seibert Farm

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 41,410 people, 17,603 households, and 10,420 families residing in the city. The population density was 848.2/km² (2,196.4/mi²). There were 19,142 housing units at an average density of 392.1/km² (1,015.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.51% White, 15.51% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.63% of the population.

There were 17,603 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.0% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.8% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,979, and the median income for a family was $46,426. Males had a median income of $33,361 versus $25,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,990. About 9.3% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Higher Education - Saint Louis University Belleville Campus, Lindenwood University Belleville Campus, and Southwestern Illinois College

Four high schools - 2 public (Belleville Township HS East, Belleville Township HS West), and 2 private (Althoff Catholic HS, Governor French Academy).^{[citation needed]}

Belleville is also home to a relatively large grade school district. Belleville District 118 has 9 elementary schools, (Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Union, Westhaven, Henry Raab, and Washington) and 2 junior high schools (Central Junior High and West Junior High). Belle Valley School District 119 includes North Elementary School and South Middle School. Harmony School District 175 includes Ellis Elementary and Emge Jr. High. Signal Hill School is the only school in district 181. Whiteside Elementary School and Whiteside Middle School make up district 115. Parochial grade schools include Cathedral, The Academy at St. Mary's Parish, St. Augustine of Canterbury, St. Teresa, Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady Queen of Peace, and Zion Lutheran School. Other schools include Mamie O. Stookey and Montessori School.^{[citation needed]}

Infrastructure

Transportation

Belleville is home to 3 St. Louis Metrolink Stations - Memorial Hospital, Belleville, and College.

The St. Louis/Mid-America Airport is located in Belleville.

Famous Residents

Jimmy Connors- 5-time US Open tennis champion
Buddy Ebsen- Actor; famous for TV roles as Jed Clampett (The Beverly Hillbillies) and Barnaby Jones.

References

External links

• www.belleville.net
• Belleville, Illinois - A Pictorial History and Tribute
• The Belleville News Democrat Online

Illinois Metro-East region
Counties	Bond | Clinton | Jersey | Madison | Monroe | St. Clair
Major Cities (10,000+)	Alton | Belleville | Cahokia | Centralia | Collinsville | East St. Louis | Edwardsville | Fairview Heights | Glen Carbon | Godfrey | Granite City | O'Fallon | Swansea | Wood River
Cities (5,000-10,000)	Bethalto | Centreville | Columbia | East Alton | Greenville | Highland | Jerseyville | Maryville | Mascoutah | Pontoon Beach | Shiloh | Staunton | Troy | Washington Park | Waterloo
Cities (1,000-5,000)	Alorton | Aviston | Beckemeyer | Breese | Brighton | Carlyle | Caseyville | Dupo | Fairmont City | Freeburg | Germantown | Hartford | Lebanon | Madison | Marissa | Millstadt | New Athens | Rosewood Heights | Roxana | Smithton | South Roxana | Trenton | Venice | Wamac
Cities (<1,000)	Albers | Brooklyn | Elsah | Grafton | Livingston | Pocahontas | Sauget
Interstates in the Metro-East	I-55 | I-64 | I-70 | I-255 | I-270
Airports/Military Bases	Scott AFB | Mid-America St. Louis Airport | St. Louis Regional Airport | St. Louis Downtown Airport | St. Louis Metro-East Airport
Sports teams based in the Metro East	Gateway Grizzlies (baseball, Frontier League)

Metropolitan area of St. Louis
Central city	Saint Louis
Largest cities (over 20,000 in 2000)	Affton CDP · Alton · Ballwin · Belleville · Chesterfield · Collinsville · East Saint Louis · Edwardsville · Ferguson · Florissant · Granite City · Hazelwood · Kirkwood · Maryland Heights · Mehlville CDP · Oakville CDP · O'Fallon · O'Fallon, Illinois · Saint Charles · Saint Peters · Spanish Lake CDP · University City · Webster Groves · Wildwood
Largest towns and villages (over 10,000 in 2000)	Arnold · Bellefontaine Neighbors · Berkeley · Bridgeton · Cahokia · Clayton · Concord CDP · Creve Coeur · Crestwood · Fairview Heights · Glen Carbon · Godfrey · Jennings · Lake Saint Louis · Lemay CDP · Manchester · Overland · Saint Ann · Swansea · Town and Country · Washington · Wood River
Missouri Counties	Franklin · Jefferson · Lincoln · St. Charles · St. Louis County · St. Louis City · Warren · Washington
Illinois Counties	Bond · Calhoun · Clinton · Jersey · Macoupin · Madison · Monroe · St. Clair
See Also	Metro-East

Municipalities and communities of St. Clair County, Illinois
County seat: Belleville
Cities	Belleville | Centreville | Collinsville | East St. Louis | Fairview Heights | Lebanon | Madison | Mascoutah | O'Fallon
Villages	Alorton | Cahokia | Caseyville | Dupo | East Carondelet | Fairmont City | Fayetteville | Freeburg | Lenzburg | Marissa | Millstadt | New Athens | Sauget | Scott AFB | Shiloh | Smithton | St. Libory | Summerfield | Swansea | Washington Park
Townships	Belleville | Canteen | Caseyville | Centreville | East St. Louis | Engelmann | Fayetteville | Freeburg | Lebanon | Lenzburg | Marissa | Mascoutah | Millstadt | New Athens | O’Fallon | Prairie du Long | Shiloh Valley | Smithton | St. Clair | Stites | Stookey | Sugarloaf

	State of Illinois Springfield (capital)
Topics	History | Government | Economy | Culture
Regions	American Bottom | Central Illinois | Champaign‑Urbana | Chicago metropolitan area | Driftless Area | Forgottonia | Fox River | Little Egypt | Mississippi Plain | Northern Illinois | North Shore | Northwestern Illinois | Quad Cities | River Bend | St. Louis Metro‑East | Wabash Valley
Major cities	Aurora | Belleville | Bloomington/Normal | Carbondale | Champaign/Urbana | Chicago | Danville | Decatur | DeKalb | East St. Louis | Elgin | Freeport | Galesburg | Joliet | Kankakee | Moline/Rock Island | Naperville | Peoria | Quincy | Rockford | Springfield | Waukegan
Counties	Adams | Alexander | Bond | Boone | Brown | Bureau | Calhoun | Carroll | Cass | Champaign | Christian | Clark | Clay | Clinton | Coles | Cook | Crawford | Cumberland | DeKalb | DeWitt | Douglas | DuPage | Edgar | Edwards | Effingham | Fayette | Ford | Franklin | Fulton | Gallatin | Greene | Grundy | Hamilton | Hancock | Hardin | Henderson | Henry | Iroquois | Jackson | Jasper | Jefferson | Jersey | Jo Daviess | Johnson | Kane | Kankakee | Kendall | Knox | LaSalle | Lake | Lawrence | Lee | Livingston | Logan | Macon | Macoupin | Madison | Marion | Marshall | Mason | Massac | McDonough | McHenry | McLean | Menard | Mercer | Monroe | Montgomery | Morgan | Moultrie | Ogle | Peoria | Perry | Piatt | Pike | Pope | Pulaski | Putnam | Randolph | Richland | Rock Island | Saline | Sangamon | Schuyler | Scott | Shelby | St. Clair | Stark | Stephenson | Tazewell | Union | Vermilion | Wabash | Warren | Washington | Wayne | White | Whiteside | Will | Williamson | Winnebago | Woodford

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