Belle Rive

History

In 1852, Edmund P. Grant bought about of federal land grants around what was to become Belle Rive. Grant was a wealthy land speculator from Montgomery County, Tennessee. At that time there was a corporation in Mt. Vernon that was attempting to build a rail line from St. Louis to Evansville, Indiana. It seems likely that Grant was buying land in anticipation of the construction of the railroad, intending to build a town. This early attempt at building a railroad failed during a recession in the mid-1850s. Grant died in 1863, after being chased from Mt. Vernon by a mob objecting to his Confederate politics. Belle Rive was founded in 1871, coinciding with the opening of the St. Louis & Southeastern Railroad. Belle Rive got its name from Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive, who surrendered Illinois to the British in 1765. It is not clear if he was ever associated with the area near the village. See List of commandants of the Illinois Country.

Geography

Belle Rive is located in southeastern Jefferson County. Illinois Route 142 passes through the village, leading northwest to Mount Vernon, the county seat, and southeast to McLeansboro. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Belle Rive has a total area of , all land. The village is drained by tributaries of Auxier Creek, an east-flowing stream in the Little Wabash River watershed.

Race & ethnicity