MEET ME IN …
Belleville
B
elleville, Illinois, the county seat of St. Clair County,
celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2014. The city began
with 1 acre of farmland, donated for a public square by
George Blair in 1814.
In naming the town, it is said that Blair chose Belleville
(meaning beautiful city in French) because he believed that a French-
sounding name would attract more people to move to the area.
By the mid-19th century, most residents of Belleville were of
German descent, many of whom had fled from Europe in the wake
of the German Revolution of 1848. In the years following the Civil
War, Belleville became known as the so-called “Stove Capital of the
World,” with more than 4 dozen stove manufacturing plants, for its
booming foundry industry, and for the production of agricultural
equipment, nails and printing presses. By the mid-1870s, coal-mining
had flourished, leading to an even more robust manufacturing sector
in town. A brewing industry also emerged, with Belleville identified
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GAZELLE
as the site of the first Illinois brewery, founded by Jacob Fleischbein in
1832, near the public square. It was also in Belleville that a 24-year-old
German immigrant named Gustav Goelitz established a family candy-
making operation known today as Jelly Belly.
Belleville’s downtown public square - where East Main meets West
Main - is perhaps the town’s most iconic landmark, and the strip is
recognized as the longest continuous Main Street in America. It’s a
popular gathering place where many of the city’s large public events,
such as the nationally ranked Art on the Square, are held. It’s also the
site of the Vete