Editing Bellefonte, Kentucky (section)

==Geography==
Bellefonte is located in eastern Greenup County at {{coord|38|29|37|N|82|41|18|W|type:city}} (38.493560, -82.688364).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> It is bordered to the north by the city of [[Russell, Kentucky|Russell]] and to the southeast by the unincorporated community of [[Westwood, Boyd County, Kentucky|Westwood]] in [[Boyd County, Kentucky|Boyd County]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|2.3|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|0.01|sqkm|order=flip|3}}, or 0.51%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010"/> The city sits on a plateau northwest of Ashland, centered on [[Kentucky Route 5]] and Country Club Drive. Route 5 terminates to the northeast at [[U.S. Route 23 in Kentucky|U.S. Route 23]] near the Boyd/Greenup county line, and downtown Ashland is {{convert|3|mi|0}} to the east.

The older section of what would become Bellefonte was laid out in town lots and sold, beginning in 1918, by the Means and Russell Iron Company. It was originally part of the several thousand-acre Wheatley farm. It was named after the iron furnace that was operated there from 1826 to 1893, named the Bellefonte Furnace. Some remnants of the old furnace remain today in Bellefonte, as its hand-cut [[limestone]] blocks are used as a [[retaining wall]] along Oxcart Road, near the Community Presbyterian Church, which is located on the original site of the iron furnace. The name "Bellefonte" is of French origin, a combination of the words "belle" for 'beautiful' and "fonte" which has the meaning of 'melting', or in this case 'foundry', 'forge' or 'smelting', referring to the iron furnace located there. A few of the original log-built dwellings from the 1800s iron furnace settlement remain along Route 5, but have been upgraded to upscale residential homes.

The city is located on a one-mile wide belt of relatively flat land that is approximately 100 feet higher in elevation than the nearby Ohio River valley. The unusual topography which is easily noticeable on topographical maps and aerial satellite imagery was created by the ancient Teays River. Larger than the Ohio River, the Teays cut a mile wide valley through the area before being filled with glacial silt during the ice age. This belt of flat land extends from Catlettsburg where it leaves the Ohio River north to near Wurtland and includes parts of Ashland, Westwood, Bellefonte, Russell and Flatwoods. The Ohio River came after the ice age in its current path which created another valley just northeast of Bellefonte. This entire belt of flat land was once known as The Flatwoods beginning in the mid-19th century. The name was retained when it was applied to the nearby city of Flatwoods, just northwest of Bellefonte.