Editing Belle Plaine, Iowa (section)

==History==
[[File:Artesian Well at Belle Plaine - History of Iowa.jpg|thumb|upright|An artesian well at Belle Plaine, 1903]]

Belle Plaine was founded in 1862 when it was certain the railroad would be extended to that point.<ref name="Press1878">{{cite book|author=Brookhaven Press|title=The History of Benton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, History of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Benton County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFc0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA443|year=1878|publisher=Brookhaven Press|isbn=978-1-58103-410-3|pages=443}}</ref> It was surveyed in March of 1862 by George F. Kirby for its proprietor, [[John Insley Blair|John I Blair]] who platted it in May. <ref>{{cite book|author=Brookhaven Press|title=The History of Benton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, History of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Benton County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFc0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA328|year=1878|publisher=Brookhaven Press|isbn=978-1-58103-410-3|pages=328}}</ref> "Belle Plaine" is derived from the French meaning "beautiful plain".<ref>{{cite book|author=Chicago and North Western Railway Company|title=A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA43|year=1908|page=43}}</ref>

Belle Plaine is located on both the historic [[Lincoln Highway]] and the cross country tracks of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]].