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Belleville(French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city") 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,[1] and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Belleville, located within Southern Illinois, is included in the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.
[edit] HistoryGeorge 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 (100,000 m2) 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. It is said that Blair named the city Belleville because he believed that the sophistication of a French name would attract new residents. 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. Belleville has a history of racial turmoil which first came to the fore in 1903 when a black teacher, David Wyatt, was lynched by a mob of 5,000 people in the town square, set on fire and dismembered. He was accused of the murder of Charles Hertel, the white superintendent of St. Clair County schools, in Hertel’s office when he refused to renew Wyatt’s teaching certification because of “grievous” complaints. [2] [3] Belleville received worldwide media coverage for a videotaped attack in which a group of black males were videotaped as they assaulted a white male over a seating dispute on a Belleville high school bus. The white male did not fight back against the unprovoked attack by the group of black males, but was assaulted repeatedly over several minutes by the black male attackers and received injury.[2] [edit] GeographyBelleville is situated above the river bluffs of the Mississippi River. The West End of Belleville merges with East St. Louis just below this bluff, which is widely regarded as a boundary between the two cities. Downtown Belleville itself is also situated on a small hill. The surrounding area is relatively flat. [edit] TopographyBelleville is located at 38°31′18″N 89°59′43″W / 38.52167°N 89.99528°W (38.521567, -89.995208).[3]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.0 square miles (49.2 km²), of which, 18.9 square miles (48.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.68%) is water. Richland Creek flows through much of Belleville [edit] Culture and contemporary life[edit] Entertainment and performing arts
Jay Farrar (now of Son Volt), 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 70s 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.[4] [edit] National Register of Historic Places[edit] Annual EventsBelleville holds several celebrations throughout the year. One of the newest, but most successful, is Art on the Square (the annual art fair).
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[edit] DemographicsAs of the census[5] of 2000, there were 41,410 people, 17,603 households, and 10,420 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,196.4 people per square mile (848.2/km²). There were 19,142 housing units at an average density of 1,015.3/sq mi (392.1/km²). 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.  [edit] EducationHigher Education
Four high schools — two public (Belleville Township HS East, Belleville Township HS West), and two 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 St. Peter's Cathedral, St. Augustine of Canterbury Church, St. Teresa, Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady Queen of Peace, and Zion Lutheran School. The Belleville school system attracted national attention after the 2009 beating of a seventeen year old student at the hands of two younger students who were all three riding on a bus together. The victim, who was white, was beaten by two black students after apparently moving a book bag to sit down on a crowded bus. The two attackers were expelled for a year and a half and charged with felony assault.[5] [edit] Infrastructure[edit] Transportation
 Belleville is home to 3 St. Louis MetroLink stations - Memorial Hospital, Belleville, and College. Belleville is also conveniently situated along IL highway 15, 159, 177, 13 and 161, and not too far from I-255 and I-64. This makes it an easy drive to the bustling downtown St. Louis, or out to rural areas for weekend camping trips. Belleville also has a bicycle trail that runs through the city from Southside Park to Southwestern Illinois College, but it is mainly used for recreational purposes Belleville's area airports are Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. These airports, located only minutes away from the heart of Belleville, are convenient alternatives to St. Louis Lambert International for long distance travel. [edit] Sister cityBelleville is a sister city to Paderborn, Germany.[6] [edit] Notable residents
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