Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city") 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, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Belleville, located within Southern Illinois, is included in the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.
George Blair named ...
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Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city") 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, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Belleville, located within Southern Illinois, is included in the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.
George Blair named the city of Belleville in 1814. Blair was born in 1760. Blair's family was of Scottish ancestry; his father was born in Scotland. Blair donated an acre of his land for the Town Square and an additional 25 acres (100,000 m) 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. It is said that Blair named...
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