Belleville, Illinois
Encyclopedia : B : BE : BEL : Belleville, Illinois
Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 41,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of St. Clair County[Geographic references#6GR6], and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Belleville is also the home of the newspaper The Belleville News Democrat. Belleville is in the Metro-East region of the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. Belleville's sister city is Paderborn, Germany.
History
A Frenchman named George Blair founded Belleville in 1814. Blair donated an acre of his land for the Town Square and an additional 25 acres that adjoined the Square for the new County Seat, thereby replacing the old county seat in Cahokia, Illinois. Belleville was incorporated as a village in 1819, and became a city in 1850. Although the name "Belleville" is French for "Beautiful City", most of the population is of a German heritage. After the failure of the German Revolution in the 1840's, many of the educated fled their homeland. Belleville was the center of the first important German settlement in the State of Illinois. At this time, an estimated 90% of the city's population was either German born or of German descent.
Transportation
Belleville is home to 3 St. Louis Metrolink Stations - Memorial Hospital, Belleville, and College. Belleville is home to the longest Main Street in the state of Illinois (9.2 Miles)Music
Jeff Tweedy, Jay Farrar and Mike Heidorn of the popular group Wilco, along with their related groups Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt are from Belleville along with Neil Dougherty, keyboardist for 70's classic rock band Reo Speedwagon. The City's Downtown is also home to blues, jazz, and rock clubs. Belleville Philharmonic Socity was formed in 1864, making it the second oldest Philharmonic Orchestra in the Country.
Education
Higher Education - Lindenwood University Belleville Campus, and Southwestern Illinois CollegeFour high schools - 2 public (Belleville Township HS East, Belleville Township HS West), and 2 private (Althoff Catholic HS, Governor French Academy).
Belleville is also home to a relatively large grade school district. Belleville District 118 has 9 elementary schools, (Roosevelt, Abaraham Lincoln, Doulgas, Franklin, Jefferson, Union, Westhaven, Henry Raab, and Washington) and 2 junior high schools (Central Junior High and West Junior High)
Registered historic places
- Belleville Historic District
- Gustave Koerner House
- Knobeloch-Seibert Farm
Notable people
- Actor Peter Sarsgaard, Born at Scott AFB in Belleville IL, his career continues to grow. He has been in such films as, "Flight Plan," "Kinsey," "Gardenstate," and "Jarhead."
- Athlete Dave Butz, defensive tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Redskins.
- Jimmy Connors, tennis legend, and #1 tennis player in the world five times.
- Neal Cotts, relief pitcher for the World Champion Chicago White Sox.
- Lea DeLaria, jazz singer, stage and film actress, writer, and first openly gay comic to appear on national network television (The Arsenio Hall Show, 1993).
- Bob Goalby, pro golfer.
- Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, former Bishop of Belleville and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, during a highly controversial period for the U.S. Catholic Church. He is now Archbishop of Atlanta Georgia.
- Jay Haas, pro golfer.
- Ken Kwapis, filmmaker and TV producer.
- Gary Leonard former NCAA & NBA basketball player.
- David Rasche, actor on the hit 80's show, Sledge Hammer.
- Musician Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco.
- The bands Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt.
- Sandra Magnus, NASA Astronaut.
- Alan Gratzer, drummer for 70's classic rock band Reo Speedwagon.
- Mike Wells, Big Band Singer and actor.
- Brian Daubach, Major League Baseball player for the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, and is now in the Minor League system of the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Actor Buddy Ebsen, best remembered as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Barnaby Jones.
- NBA Star Darius Miles, though many would think this star was from E. St. Louis he is in fact from Belleville. He has had an avid basketball career with the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and now the Portland Trailblazers. He also was in the movie, The Perfect Score.
- Jaimee Foxworth, actress on Family Matters and pornographic films.
Geography
Belleville is located at (38.521567, -89.995208)[Geographic references#1GR1].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.2 km² (19.0 mi²). 48.8 km² (18.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.68%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 41,410 people, 17,603 households, and 10,420 families residing in the city. The population density was 848.2/km² (2,196.4/mi²). There were 19,142 housing units at an average density of 392.1/km² (1,015.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.51% White, 15.51% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.63% of the population.There were 17,603 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.0% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.8% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,979, and the median income for a family was $46,426. Males had a median income of $33,361 versus $25,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,990. About 9.3% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.
External links
- [www.belleville.net]
- [Belleville, Illinois - A Pictorial History and Tribute]
- [The Belleville News Democrat Online]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.