Editing Belmont County, Ohio (section)

==History==
Belmont County was authorized in September 1801 by the [[Northwest Territory|Northwest Territorial legislature]], with area partitioned from [[Jefferson County, Ohio|Jefferson]] and [[Washington County, Ohio|Washington]] counties.<ref name="McKelvey, A. T. pp. 46-47"/> The county would be organized two months later with [[St. Clairsville, Ohio|St. Clairsville]] being named as the county seat in 1803. Its area was reduced in 1810 when area was ceded for the formation of [[Guernsey County, Ohio|Guernsey County]] and again in 1813 for the formation of [[Monroe County, Ohio|Monroe County]]. It has retained its boundaries unchanged since 1813. ''Belmont'' is the French [[toponym]] meaning "beautiful mountain". Settlers migrating westward followed [[Zane's Trace]] through the county. Later, the [[National Road]] was built through the county. [[Quakers]] were among the county's first settlers. Many of these people would become outspoken [[Abolitionism in the United States|critics of slavery]], including famous abolitionist [[Benjamin Lundy]].

Belmont County is located in the Ohio coal belt.<ref name="McKelvey, A. T. p. 79">McKelvey, A. T.. Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens. p. 79. Chicago, Biographical Pub. Co. (1903).</ref> At one time, steamships traveling down the [[Ohio River]] knew the county's community of Bellaire as the last stop for coal until Cincinnati.<ref name="Bruno7">Bruno, Holly; and Ehritz, Andrew. Bellaire. p. 7. Charleston, South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing (2009).</ref> In 1866, the county had railroad service from the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] and the Toledo & Ohio Railroad. The National Road also ran through Bellaire.<ref name="McKelvey, A. T. p. 68">McKelvey, A. T.. Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens. p. 68. Chicago, Biographical Pub. Co. (1903).</ref> Given the county's transportation resources, fuel resource, and experienced workforce in nearby Wheeling, West Virginia, the county was an excellent location for a glass manufacturing plant. The county's first glass works was the Excelsior Glass Works, which was organized in 1849. In 1866 [[Belmont Glass Company]] became Bellaire's first of many glass plants, and the second in Belmont County.<ref name="Crammer484">Crammer, Gibson L.; Jepson, Samuel L.; Trainer, John H.S.; Morrison, William; and Taneyhill, R.H.. History of the Upper Ohio Valley.... p.484. Madison, Wisconsin. Brant & Fuller. (1890).</ref> Some of the founders of this glass works later started another glass factory in Bellaire: the [[Bellaire Goblet Company]]. In 1880, the state of Ohio ranked fourth in the country in glass production, and Belmont County ranked sixth among the nation's counties.<ref name="Weeks11">Weeks, Joseph Dame; and United States Census Office. Report on the Manufacture of Glass. p.11. Washington. Government Printing Office. (1884)</ref> By 1881, Bellaire had 15 glass factories, and was known as "Glass City".<ref name="Revi69">Revi, Albert Christian. American Pressed Glass and Figure Bottles. p.69. New York. Nelson. (1964)</ref> At the beginning of the next decade, the state of Ohio was ranked second in the nation in glass production based on the value of the product.<ref name="USCO315">United States Census Office. Report on Manufacturing Industries in the United States at the Eleventh Census. p.315. Washington. Government Printing Office. (1895)</ref>

Belmont County was the venue for the world-famous [[Jamboree in the Hills]] outdoor country music festival from 1977 to 2018. In 1986, the syndicated [[Paul Harvey]] Show featured a special election being held in Belmont County for purposes of selecting a new official county seal and flag, created by then-county resident Michael Massa.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://belmontcountycommissioners.com/county-flag-2 |title=County Flag |publisher=Belmont County Commissioners |access-date=June 12, 2024 }}</ref>