Belleville's Village Green Bandstand which was dedicated on September 11, 1879

Bellville: Home of Ohio's "World's Fair"

Bellville is known for its blue bridge, its antique band stand and the famous "bell" for which the town was named. Wait, that's not true. Bellville was named for Mr. Bell who had nothing to do with the bandstand's bell. The Bellville community is exactly the kind of town you would want if you wanted a small upscale town with lots of amenities in a natural environment.

Bellville can trace its routes back to the early 1800s and was one of the oldest villages in Richland County. When the state decided to make a new county out of Richland and Knox it was hoped by the the Bellville's residents to become the county seat. Those plans fell through, and Bellville remained part of Richland County. Instead of taking the non-selection as a put down, Bellville decided to create a fair. Its first year was 1850 and became the first fair in the county. However, the next year, that fair was claimed by Mansfield as the Richland County Fair. Again, not taking it as a put down, the citizens of Bellville decided to create another fair and in 1852 and they called it the Bellville Street Fair so nobody else could claim it as their own. That fair has been going on ever since being held on the Bellville's main street each year about mid-September. At some time which we have not yet been able to document, Bellville's Street Fair became Bellville's World Fair.

B&O Bike Trail

Today their are number of old buildings that have been preserved and restored including some fine restaurants. There is also the Richland B&O Bike Trail that runs along the Clear Fork River on the former railroad right of way.

The Richland B&O Trail is 18.5 mile bike trail that connects Mansfield, Lexington, Bellville and Butler. It is open year-round during daylight hours.

Not much is known about Robert Bell other than he was originally from New Jersey and fought in the Revolutionary War. In the late 1790s he and his family moved to western Pennsylvania. Ten years later they moved into what would become Belmont County. In 1812 he sent his son-in-law George Yerian to the newly formed Richland County to buy land. Robert and the rest of his family did not arrive here until after the end of the War of 1812 when northern Ohio became more peaceful.

Ohio's "World's Fair"

The Bellville Street Fair is a combination of street fair and county fair for the citizens of Bellville and attracts visitors from all over the state. There are vendors bringing in tasty foods, vendors bringing in the rides that the kids enjoy.

Bellville citizens bring in their best agricultural efforts, cooking delights, plus artisan and craft displays. The entire main street is turned over to the event.

Bellville's History

The second settlement in Richland County happened here in what would later become known as Bellville. James McCluer arrived her and liked the land along Clearfork Creek, he purchased a plot of land. He then returned to Pickaway County where he had already created a temporary settlement along with other family and friends. Once he physically saw the land, he was so impressed that he went back and convinced other family members and some friends to move. After packing up his belongings and made ready for his trip back Samuel and Thomas McCluer, and Jonathan Oldfield joined him and together the four men built a cabin. James McCluer then feeling comfortable they could survive the winter here,, returned for his family. With the addition of James' family, the settlement became known as the McCluer Settlement.

In 1815 Robert Bell purchased all of James McCluer's land that had originally been purchased seven years earlier. Robert Bell laid out 48 lots that would be sold individually. The first lot was sold to Enoch Ogle at the corner of Huron and Ogle Streets who promptly built a house and opened a tavern there, the first tavern in the township. In 1824, Bellville got its own post office, but it was named Belleville with an "E". In the late 1800s the village changed the name by dropping the "E" and it has been that way ever since.

Bellville's Gold Rush

In 1853 gold was discovered by Dr. James C. Lee who had been a California prospector during the 1849 Gold Rush. He discovered flakes of gold in a small tributary of the Clear Fork just north of town and that stream became known as Gold Run. Previous to that the stream was known as Deadman's Run after a man crossing a small bridge was swept away by rain-swollen waters.

Not long after Dr. Lee's discovery, there wasn't a stream in Richland County that didn't have someone panning for gold. Even today, the area still has people panning for gold. Very little documented accounts of found gold have been made, not that there wasn't gold found, it's just that people were highly secretive of their findings. Nonetheless, people came from all around the country well into the 20th Century looking for gold. Along with the prospectors and get rich quick schemes, came all the hangers on looking to make a buck not from gold, but from those looking for gold.

Geologists say there are no veins of gold running underneath Bellville, but what people are finding are flakes of gold that arrived here with the glaciers coming down from Canada.

Bellville's Dark Side

Men looking to get rich quick like gold prospectors, have a certain personality that is different from the more steady personality required to farm the land. They are more likely to frequent taverns on a regular basis, more likely to tell bold and exaggerated tales. This has been true for Bellville.

A good example came in the fall of 1861. It was a time when some volunteers that had enlisted to fight in the Civil War were returning after their 3-month enlistment period was over. Seeing that the evening prayer meeting was letting out, several of them climbed up on their buddies shoulders and draped an army blanket over their shoulders so that it appeared to the churchgoers that giants were walking across the village green.

Ghost tales were also a regular form of entertainment, especially when visitors stopped by the local tavern. It was told that a ghost would sometimes appear at the bend of Deadman's run just north of town.