Editing Belleville, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Bird's Eye View of Belleville, Illinois.jpg|thumb|left|Bird's eye view of Belleville in 1867.]]

George Blair named the city of Belleville in 1814, after the French phrase ''belle ville'', meaning "beautiful city".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028805948/page/182/mode/2up |title=History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers |publisher=Brink McDonough & Co. |year=1881 |location=Philadelphia |pages=183}}</ref> Because Blair donated an acre of his land for the town square and an additional {{convert|25|acre|ha}} adjoining the square for the new county seat, the legislature transferred the county seat from the village of [[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]].  The latter had been established by French colonists as a mission village in the late 17th century.

Belleville was incorporated as a [[village]] in 1819, and became a [[city]] in 1850. Major immigration in the mid-19th century to this area occurred following revolutions in Germany, and most of the European-American population is of [[German Americans|German ancestry]]. Many of the educated Germans fled their homeland after the failure of the [[The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|German Revolution]] in 1848. Belleville was the center of the first important German settlement in Illinois. By 1870, an estimated 90% of the city's population was either German-born or of German descent.<ref name="LIMBH">[http://www.laborandindustrymuseum.org/BellevilleHistory.shtml "Labor and Industry Museum"], ''Labor and Industry Museum: Belleville History'', accessed December 1, 2010]</ref>

After the Civil War, Belleville became a manufacturing center producing nails, printing presses, gray iron castings, agricultural equipment, and stoves. Belleville became known as "The Stove Capital of the World." The first brewery in Illinois was established in Belleville. In 1868, Gustav Goelitz founded the candy company that is known today as "[[Jelly Belly]]."<ref name=LIMBH/>

An immense deposit ({{convert|400000|acre|km2}}) of [[bituminous coal]] was found in St. Clair County. By 1874, some farmers had become coal miners.  One hundred [[Shaft mining|shaft mines]] were in operation in and around Belleville.  The coal brought the steam railroad to town, which allowed for the transport of many tons of coal to be shipped daily from Belleville to St. Louis on the west side of the Mississippi River, for use in its industries, homes and businesses.  Later, Belleville had the first [[electric trolley]] in the state.<ref name=LIMBH/>
[[File:Bird's-eye view of Belleville, Illinois LCCN2011649524.jpg|thumb|left|Belleville as it appeared in 1910.]]
The first style of houses in Belleville were simple brick cottages, known locally as "German street houses" or "[[row houses]]."  Architectural styles flourished in greater variety, featuring [[American Foursquare]], [[French Second Empire style|French Second Empire]], [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]], [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]], [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]], [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne]], and [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]].<ref name="VP" /> The [[Belleville Historic District]], which was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1976, comprises 73 [[contributing property|contributing properties]].<ref>{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

The "Old Belleville Historic District," was defined and recognized in 1974 and is the city's first historic district.<ref name="VP">[http://www.villageprofile.com/illinois/belleville/belleville.html "Village Profile"], ''Village Profile: History and Culture'', 1997, accessed 1 December 2010]</ref> The city also has designated two more historic districts:  "Hexenbuckel" (est. in 1991) and "Oakland" (est. in 1995).<ref>[http://www.laborandindustrymuseum.org/OtherHistoricResources.shtml "Labor and Industry Museum"], ''Labor and Industry Museum: Other Historic Resources'', accessed December 1, 2010</ref>

Belleville's early [[German immigrants in the United States|German immigrants]] were educated, with most of them having graduated from German universities. They were nicknamed "[[Latin Settlement|Latin Farmers]]" because of this. After 1836 [[Gustav Koerner]] contributed to establish the city's public library.  The Belleville Public Library is the state's oldest, predating the Illinois State Library by three years. The German settlers also founded choral and dramatic groups, as well as literary societies. They established one of the first kindergartens in the country here.<ref name=LIMBH/><ref name=VP/>

In 1990, as reported by the Belleville News-Democrat using the US Census data, the city surpassed the neighboring city of East St. Louis to become the most populated city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-belleville-news-democrat-belleville/131983526/ | title=Belleville passes East St Louis to become the most populated city in the Metro East | newspaper=The Belleville News-Democrat | date=September 24, 1991 | page=1 }}</ref>

The [[National Civic League]] recognized Belleville in 2011 as one of the ten recipients of the [[All-America City Award]]. Belleville is coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.bnd.com/news/local/community/belleville/article150703982.html|title=Belleville officially takes over township's duties|work=bnd|access-date=September 7, 2017}}</ref>

Major employers within the city limits include [[BJC HealthCare|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 laboratory), 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 the Illinois city elected Patty Gregory as Belleville's first female Mayor.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bnd.com/news/politics-government/election/article250434036.html|title=Gregory looks forward to serving as first female mayor in Belleville's 207 years|first=Mike|last=Koziatek|publisher=Belleville News and Democrat|date=April 7, 2021|accessdate=April 7, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/ofallon-mo-mayor-prevails-maplewood-elects-first-black-mayor/article_a2939482-d94a-5ede-8b1c-a35e0239b163.html|title=Maplewood, Alton elect first Black mayors; Belleville elects first woman mayor in upsets to local incumbents|first=Nassim|last=Benchaabane|publisher=St. Louis Dispatch|date=April 7, 2021|accessdate=April 7, 2021}}</ref>