Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, and serves as the county seat. It is located in the southeast part of St. Louis. According to the 2020 census, the population was 42,404, making it the largest city in the Metro East area of the St. Louis region and in all of Southern Illinois south of Springfield. Because it is near Scott Air Force Base, the city has many military members and federal workers. It is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and has the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

History

George Blair named the city of Belleville in 1814 after the French phrase belle ville, which means "beautiful city." Blair gave one acre of his land for the town square and 25 more acres next to the square for the new county seat. Because of this, the government moved the county seat from Cahokia. Cahokia had been created by French colonists as a mission village in the late 1600s.

Belleville became a village in 1819 and a city in 1850. Many people from Germany moved to the area in the mid-1800s after the German Revolution failed in 1848. Most of the European-American population in Belleville has German ancestry. By 1870, about 90% of the city’s people were either born in Germany or had German ancestors.

After the Civil War, Belleville became a place where goods were made, including nails, printing presses, iron castings, farming tools, and stoves. Belleville was called "The Stove Capital of the World." The first brewery in Illinois was built in Belleville. In 1868, Gustav Goelitz started a candy company that is now known as "Jelly Belly."

A large area of bituminous coal (400,000 acres) was discovered in St. Clair County. By 1874, some farmers began working as coal miners. Over 100 coal mines were operating near Belleville. The coal industry brought a steam railroad to the city, which helped transport coal daily to St. Louis across the Mississippi River. Later, Belleville had the first electric trolley in the state.

The first homes in Belleville were simple brick houses called "German street houses" or "row houses." Over time, many different architectural styles appeared, including American Foursquare, French Second Empire, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, and Victorian. The Belleville Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, includes 73 important buildings.

The "Old Belleville Historic District," recognized in 1974, was the city’s first historic area. Belleville also has two other historic districts: "Hexenbuckel" (established in 1991) and "Oakland" (established in 1995).

Early German immigrants to Belleville were well-educated, often having graduated from German universities. They were called "Latin Farmers" because of this. In 1836, Gustav Koerner helped start the city’s public library. The Belleville Public Library is the oldest in Illinois, created three years before the Illinois State Library. German settlers also started choral and drama groups, as well as literary societies. They established one of the first kindergartens in the country in Belleville.

In 1990, the Belleville News-Democrat reported that Belleville became the most populous city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois, surpassing East St. Louis.

In 2011, the National Civic League honored Belleville as one of the ten winners of the All-America City Award. Belleville shares the same boundaries as the now-defunct Belleville Township.

Major employers in Belleville include Protestant Memorial Medical Center (dba Memorial Hospital), Empire Comfort Systems, Peerless Premier Appliance, Allsup, Belleville Boot Company, Illinois American Water (corporate office, quality control, and research lab), Permobil US, Roesch Inc., Beno J. Gundlach Co., Chelar Tool & Die, International Paper, Triple Sticks Food Inc., Kaskaskia Engineering, and Mathis Marifian & Richter Ltd.

In 2021, residents of Belleville elected Patty Gregory as the city’s first female mayor.

Belleville Police Department

The Belleville Police Department was started in 1814 when Belleville became a village. At that time, the department had only one officer, a constable. In 1850, a new position called city marshal was added because the community grew larger. In 1854, the City Council decided to help the city marshal by hiring a deputy marshal to work in four parts of the city. By 1867, the department included a city marshal, a chief of police, a captain of the night police, and four officers. In 1890, the department had 12 people: the city marshal, the night police captain, a sergeant, and nine officers. In 1913, there were 15 officers. By 1939, the department had 21 members, and by 1951, it had 35 members. As of 2025, the Belleville Police Department has 75 officers who are sworn in, and more than 25 civilian workers who support the department.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Belleville has a total area of 23.49 square miles (60.84 km²), of which 22.74 square miles (58.90 km²) (or 98.83%) is land and 0.269 square miles (0.70 km²) (or 1.17%) is water. Richland Creek flows through much of Belleville.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, Belleville had a population of 42,404. The median age was 38.6 years. Twenty-two point five percent of residents were under the age of 18, and 15.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males age 18 and over.

Ninety-nine point six percent of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.4% lived in rural areas.

There were 17,993 households in Belleville. Twenty-seven point nine percent of households had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 34.7% were married-couple households, 21.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 20,573 housing units, of which 12.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.7%, and the rental vacancy rate was 11.5%.

As of the 2010 Census, there were 44,478 people, 18,795 households, and 11,081 families living in the city. The population density was not reported. The racial makeup of the city was 69.8% White, 25.4% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population.

Of the 18,795 households, 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no man present, and 41% were non-families. 34.4% of households were one person, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.3, and the average family size was 2.9.

The age distribution was 23.3% under the age of 18, and 12.9% over the age of 65.

At the 2000 census, there were 41,410 people, 17,603 households, and 10,420 families living in the city. The population density was 2,196.4 inhabitants per square mile (848.0/km²). There were 19,142 housing units at an average density of 1,015.3 per square mile (392.0/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 17,603 households, 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 households were one person, and 14.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.27, and the average family size was 2.95.

The age distribution was 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% 65 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 household income was $35,979, and the median family income 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.

Arts and culture

The Belleville Philharmonic Society was created in 1866, making it the second oldest philharmonic orchestra in the country. As the Black population and people moving from the South grew, musicians who played blues and jazz began to develop. Later, rock clubs were added to the local music scene.

Jay Farrar (now of Son Volt), Mike Heidorn, and Jeff Tweedy (now of Wilco) were members of the now-disbanded alt country group Uncle Tupelo. They are from Belleville. Another important musician from Belleville was Neal Doughty, who played keyboards for the 1970s rock band REO Speedwagon.

• Labor and Industry Museum – Opened in 2002 in the historic Conrad Bornman home, which was built in 1837. The museum preserves items that show the industrial history of Belleville through its exhibits and archives.
• Victorian Home Museum – Originally built in 1866 for German immigrant Morris Dobschutsz. It was later changed from apartments back into a Victorian-style home for the museum’s opening in 1968. The home shows how wealthy people in Belleville lived during the Victorian era. The museum also has an exhibit about Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Belleville in 1856.
• Emma Kunz House – The Emma Kunz House Museum opened in 1978 after being moved and restored. The building is an example of a “German Street House” and is furnished like a middle-class family home in Belleville during the mid-19th century.

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

• Rowdies Rugby Football Club – The only rugby football club in the Belleville area.
• Lindenwood Stadium – A college football stadium with red and gray stripes. It has been called “The nation’s most original (hideous) football field.”
• Belleville Stags – A minor league baseball team that played from 1947 to 1949. The Stags were part of the Illinois State League. In 1949, the league became the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League. This later changed to the Midwest League in 1956. The Stags played at the Belleville Athletic Field and were named after Stag Beer. They were affiliated with the New York Yankees (1949) and St. Louis Browns (1947–1948).

Education

Belleville Township High School District 201 is the public high school district in Belleville. The city includes four high schools: Belleville High School-East and Belleville High School-West (part of the high school district), Althoff Catholic High School (part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville), and Governor French Academy.

Small areas of Belleville are also part of other school districts. These include East St. Louis School District 189 (which operates East St. Louis Senior High School), Mascoutah Community Unit School District 19 (which operates Mascoutah Community High School), and Freeburg Community High School District 77 (which operates Freeburg Community High School).

Belleville is home to several grade school districts, such as Belleville School District 118, Belle Valley School District 119, Harmony Emge School District 175, Signal Hill School District 181, Whiteside School District 115, and Freeburg Community Consolidated School District 70.

Private grade schools in Belleville include St. Teresa Catholic, Blessed Sacrament Catholic, Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic, and Zion Lutheran School. The Catholic schools are part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville.

Higher education in Belleville includes Southwestern Illinois College, a public community college with its main campus near the city in unincorporated St. Clair Township. The city previously had Lindenwood University – Belleville from 2009 to 2020.

Media

The Belleville News-Democrat is the city's daily newspaper. It is part of the McClatchy group and reports news about the Metro East area and Southwestern Illinois. The city also gets news from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which is the main newspaper for the region. Belleville receives signals from most radio and TV stations that are based in St. Louis.

Transportation

Belleville has three St. Louis MetroLink stations that connect it to St. Louis and the light rail network: Memorial Hospital, Belleville, and College.

Illinois State Highways 15, 158, 159, 177, 13, and 161 all pass through Belleville. Belleville is also next to Interstate highways 64 and 255. I-64 is a highway that runs east to west from Wentzville, Missouri, to Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is the main route from Belleville to downtown St. Louis. I-255 is part of a system of expressways that together form a loop around St. Louis.

Belleville has a bicycle trail that runs through the city from Southside Park to Southwestern Illinois College and Scott Air Force Base. This trail is mainly used for recreational purposes.

Belleville’s area airports include Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, which is served by Allegiant Air. The nearest major airport with regularly scheduled commercial passenger service is St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

Belleville once had Amtrak service in the form of River Cities, which traveled to New Orleans and Kansas City. This service has since been removed.

Notable people

• Black Beaver (1806–1880), Lenape leader, scout, and rancher
• William Henry Bissell (1811–1860), 11th Governor of Illinois
• Ryan Bollman, American actor
• Ken Bone, internet personality
• Charles Romyn Dake, 19th-century American homeopathic physician
• Jimmy Connors, American former world No. 1 tennis player
• Lea DeLaria, American comedian, actress, and jazz singer
• Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer
• Ninian Edwards (1775–1833), 3rd Governor of Illinois
• Jay Farrar, American songwriter and musician
• Mary Lynne Gasaway Hill, poet, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
• Bob Goalby, professional golfer, winner of the 1968 Masters Tournament
• Rusty Lisch, quarterback for University of Notre Dame and multiple NFL teams
• Nicholas Holthaus, American writer, documentarian, musician, and media producer
• Sandra Magnus, American engineer and a former NASA astronaut
• Darius Miles, former American professional basketball player
• James T. Mitchell (1834–1915), chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Edward P. Petri, Illinois state representative, sheriff, and businessman
• John Reynolds (1788–1865), 4th Governor of Illinois
• Mary Ellen Richmond, constructed the foundations for the development of professional social work
• Jeff Tweedy, musician, songwriter, author, and record producer
• Kevin Von Erich, an American retired professional wrestler
• Stephen R. Wigginton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois from 2010 to 2015.