History
A title Bellefontaine means "beautiful fountain" in French, and is purported to refer to many springs in the area.[http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maggieoh/mlogan.html]

Blue Jacket's Town
About 1777, the Shawnee war leader Blue Jacket (Weyapiersenwah) built a class action settlement on this text, called '''Blue Jacket's Town'''. Blue Jacket & his band experienced antecedently occupied a village along the Scioto River, but using a coming of the American Revolutionary War to the Ohio Country, Blue Jacket and more American Indians who took up arms against a Western subverter resettled sequentially to become nigher to their British allies at Detroit. Blue Jacket's Town was destroyed inside the raid by Kentucky milita within 1786 at the offset of the Northwest Indian War. A expedition was led by Benjamin Logan, namesake of Logan County. Blue Jacket & his followers relocated farther north-west to the Maumee River.

Beginning in the 1800's, Revolutionary War veterans and others from Virginia and elsewhere began settling in the area of Blue Jacket's Town. Bellefontaine is in or even touching a edge of the Virginia Military District, and a Treaty of Greenville delineating lands to become held by Americans from either people to be held by indigen was badly administered in the area.

The railroads
Around 1820, the town of Bellefontaine was officially placed out. Within 1837, the Mad Flow of any stream & Lake Erie Railroad built the first railroad in Bellefontaine. This began Bellefontaine's reputation as a railroading town. This reputation was cemented in the 1890's, whenever the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (also called the Big Four Railroad) built a main terminal here. This terminal as well boasted a big roundhouse between Up to date York & Saint Louis.[http://www.ci.bellefontaine.oh.us/html/history_of_bellefontaine.html]

Though railroading hit firm days within a late 20th century, & the Large 4 terminal ceased operations in 1983, Bellefontaine remains a landmark in Us's railways. A city is at a junction of CSX lines going to Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Dayton.

Automotive transportation
Within 1891, Bellefontaine became the location of the foremost concrete street in United states of america. George Bartholomew invented a run for paving applying Portland cement, which until then got been utilized within stone construction. The little division of Main Street, on a west side of the Logan County Courthouse, was the foremost to exist as paved utilizing that run. Whilst that proved successful, Court Street, which line a south side of the courthouse, was so paved. When Main Street is currently paved by owning asphalt, Court Street has retained its original concrete pavement for concluded Centred years.

Around 1979, Honda began manufacturing motorcycles within nearby Marysville, Ohio. Since that instance, Honda's operations around the Bellefontaine metropolitan area keep close at h& greatly expanded, and Bellefontaine is currently centrally situated to Honda operations in Marysville, East Liberty, Russells Point, Anna, and Troy, Ohio. It follows, so, that Honda is presently Bellefontaine's big employer.

Campbell Hill and US military operations
To European settlers, Campbell Hill was number 1 called Hogue's Hill, maybe a misspelling of the title of the individual world health organization 1st deeded the land inside 1830, Solomon Rogue. Inside 1898, the land was sold to Charles D. Campbell, within whose title Campbell Hill is nowadays known. Campbell sold capitol hill & circumferent l& to August Wagner, world health organization was a original brewer of Augustiner and Gambrinus beers. (These brands come nowadays a trademarks of the Gambrinus Company of San Antonio, Texas, though the company has stopped production one beers.)

Around 1950, a personal of August Wagner deeded Campbell Hill & the encompassing 57.Fivesome acres to the Federal government of the United States. a food & drug administration so stationed the 664th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on the hill inside 1951. This force was responsible monitoring for conceivable aerospace attacks from a Soviet Union during the Cold War. A 664th AC&WS and similar military units were eventually superseded by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (or NORAD), and the base in Bellefontaine was closed in 1969.

the Ohio Hi-Point Vocational-Technical indicator District opened a school atop capitol hill around 1974. A school is nowadays called a Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.

Law and government
Bellefontaine has an elective mayor and city council style of government.

Mayor
Bellefontaine's city manager is Robert C. Lentz.

City Council
A Bellefontaine City Council consists of a single president, quadruplet ward councillor, & iii councillor at-heavy:

William Patterson, Council President David Haw, Number one Ward Linda Erwin-Hutchins, 2nd Ward Robert S Storm, Third Ward Kerri Sullivan, 4th Ward David Henry, Council at large Donald Horn, Council at large Rick Gildow, Council at large

City Staff
Service-Safety Director - Gary C. Carmean Chief of Police - Brad K. Kunze, CLEE Fire Chief - James Holycross Municipal Court Judge - John Ross City Prosecutor - William Goslee City Law Director - Howard Traul City Auditor - City Treasurer - Joe Yoacam

Geography
Bellefontaine is placed at 40°21'39" North, 83°45'29" West (Forty.360878, -83.758126).

Based on data from a United States Census Bureau, the city has the sum vicinity of Xxii.Septet km² (8.8 mi²). Twenty-two.Septet kilometer² (Eighter.Ogdoad mi²) of these are l& and none of the metropolitan area is covered sustaining fluids.

Economy
the median income for a home in the city is $36,029, & the median income for a personal is $42,126. Males have a median income of $34,637 versus $22,849 for females. A per capita income for the city is $17,781. Xiv.6% of the people & Xii.9% of families come in a image below the poverty line. Away from a number people, Twenty.7% of victims under a age of 18 & 7.0% of people 65 & older come residing beneath a poverty level.

Demographics
When of the nose count of 2000, there are 13,069 population, 5,319 home, & 3,436 families living in the city. A population density is 576.0/km² (1,491.3/mi²). There are 5,722 housing units at an typical density of 252.2/km² (652.9/mi²). A racial makeup of the city is Ninety.82% White, 5.13% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.93% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 2.40% from two or more races. I.12% of the people are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 5,319 family away from which 34.1% keep around youngsters under a age of Eighteen accept the babies, 45.7% come married couples living together, 14.4% have a female homeowner by using there is no married man present, & 35.4% come non-families. Thirty.5% of completely house come mass produced higher of souls & Eleven.9% develop mortal dwelling alone world health organization is 65 years aged or even older. A typical home size is Deuce.4Leash & a typical personal size is 3.01.

In a city the people is spread retired by having Xxviii.1% under a age of Eighteen, X.0% from either 18 to 2 dozen, Twenty-nine.1% from either 25 to 44, Nineteen.9% from either 45 to 64, & Dozen.9% world health organization come 65 years aged or even older. A median age is 33 years. For each One c females there are Ninety.Nine males. For each Centred females age Xviii & ended, there are 86.Foursome males.

Micropolitan statistical area
Bellefontaine is the center of the Bellefontaine Micropolitan Technical indicator Region, every bit defined per U.S. Census Bureau. This micropolis consists solely of Logan County, Ohio. A 2000 censusfound 46,005 population in the micropolis, getting it the title 260th virtually all thickly settled such vicinity in the United States. Among 100% U.S. technical indicator areas (CBSAs), the Bellefontaine micropolis ranks 622nd. Within Ohio, a Bellefontaine micropolis is the 37th virtually all thickly settled CBSA, & the 21st virtually all thickly settled micropolitan technical indicator metropolitan area.

In comparison, a least thickly settled area in the United States, Carson City, Nevada, has 52,457 residents. A least thickly settled area within Ohio is Sandusky, with 79,555 residents. A Bellefontaine micropolis is non when thickly settled when these, however does have a greater people than a select few micropolitan technical indicator areas traditionally considered to exist as little regional cities. (Examples: El Dorado, Arkansas; Clovis, New Mexico; and Red Wing, Minnesota.)

Though official definitions of micropolitan technical indicator areas did non survive until 2003, a front yard nowadays constituting a Bellefontaine micropolis grew within people by Octet.7.1% between 1990 & 2000.

Sites of interest
McKinley Street: Whether or even does'nt this is the shortest street in the globe is the point of a bit of contention. A sign at a street's to a south prevent (at the intersection of Columbus Ave.) makes this claim. But, Elgin Street in the municipal borough of Bacup, Lancashire, England also is claimed to become the world's shortest, at Seventeen feet (Fin.Ii m)[http://euclid.colorado.edu/~rmg/roads/records.html]. A [http://www.ci.bellefontaine.oh.us/html/history_of_bellefontaine.html City of Bellefontaine]'s internet site is of little serve around resolving this dispute; it stores a length of McKinley Street at "about 20 feet". Curiously, a city's web site doesn't repeat a claim of the globe's shortest street. Instead, a city claims McKinley Street is "the shortest street in America".

As well: Campbell Hill Court Avenue, a first concrete street in the world Foremost brokerage of Edward D. Jones, still houses an office of the brokerage he started. 1st United Methodist Church, in which Norman Vincent Peale got his start.

Education
A Bellefontaine City Schools work 4 simple schools, a single secondary school, & 1 senior high in the area. These schools have a united enrollment of 2,840. Additionally, a Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, placed atop Campbell Hill, offers each secondary & post-secondary education. Listed at Ohio Hi-Point come 505 students.

Many colleges & universities work satellite campuses in the Bellefontaine metropolitan area. These include: Ohio State University Urbana University

Media
WBLL, AM radio station WPKO, FM radio station Bellefontaine Examiner, newspaper

Famous past and present residents

Blue Jacket (Weyapiersenwah), Shawnee chief William Lawrence, US Representative and the 1st vice president of the American Red Cross George Bartholomew, inventor Kin Hubbard, cartoonist and journalist Edward D. Jones, investment banker Melville J. Herskovits, anthropologist Norman Vincent Peale, minister and author The Mills Brothers, entertainers Austin Eldon Knowlton, architect Walter Alston, baseball manager Allan W. Eckert, author Thomas W. Wedge, creator, A Satan Hunter ISBN 0938936735