Bellmont, New York facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bellmont, New York
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 Bellmont, New York
Location in New York
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| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Franklin |
| Named for | William Bell |
| Government | |
| • Type | Town Council |
| Area | |
| • Total | 167.16 sq mi (432.95 km2) |
| • Land | 164.14 sq mi (425.13 km2) |
| • Water | 3.02 sq mi (7.82 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,657 ft (505 m) |
| Population
(2010)
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| • Total | 1,434 |
| • Estimate
(2016)
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1,409 |
| • Density | 8.58/sq mi (3.31/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| FIPS code | 36-033-05716 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0978721 |
Bellmont is a small town in Franklin County, New York. It's located on the eastern side of the county. In 2010, about 1,434 people lived there. The town gets its name from William Bell, who owned a lot of land in the area a long time ago.
Contents
History of Bellmont
Early Settlers and Land
Northern New York state grew slowly in the past. So, in 1822, a special law was made. This law, called a homestead act, gave plots of land to people who wanted to settle there. Before this law, not many people lived in Bellmont.
The town of Bellmont officially started in 1833. It was formed from a larger town called Chateaugay. More land was added to Bellmont from Chateaugay in 1838.
William Bell, who the town is named after, came to Chateaugay Lake around 1783. He sold some land to Samuel C. Drew in 1816. Drew built a home on the west shore of the Lower Lake.
The first child born in the Chateaugay Lake area was William Henry Drew in 1819. Many people from Gilmanton, New Hampshire, followed the Drews and settled around the Lower Lake.
Industries and Growth
At first, people tried to cut down trees for lumber. But it was too expensive to move the wood. Later, mining and smelting (melting metal from ore) iron became more successful. This continued until the iron deposits ran out.
In 1874, a company built a forge at a place called Moffits. A forge is where metal is heated and shaped. They brought iron ore from Lyon Mountain. This iron was very good for making Bessemer steel. By 1880, the forge grew to be the largest "Catalan" forge in the world. It used a lot of wood to make charcoal, which was needed for the forge. This big operation stopped in 1893.
Other mines were found, but some were abandoned. For example, a mine owned by Lewis Bellows was closed because the ore had too much sulfur. The old Bellows mine shaft is still there today.
Chateaugay Lake as a Resort
Around 1820, Jonathan Bellows settled near the lake. He later had a hotel called the Lake House. After the Papineau Rebellion in 1837, English officers started spending their summers there. This was the beginning of the area becoming a "summer resort."
Famous artists like A. F. Tait and Chester Harding visited. Tait even had a studio there and painted scenes of the area. Some of his paintings were later made into prints by Currier and Ives. Other famous guests included a cousin of writer James Russell Lowell.
In 1892, the Lake House was bought and renamed "Banner House."
Chateaugay Lake has always been popular for fishing and hunting. The area had many speckled and rainbow trout, as well as deer and bear. Famous people like singer Geraldine Farrar and clockmaker Seth Thomas built cottages there. Seth Thomas built a beautiful cottage with a tall tower and a huge three-sided clock.
Transportation Changes
In the early days, before cars, people traveled by stagecoach from Chateaugay to the Banner House. From there, a small steamboat, first the Adirondack and then the Emma, would travel through the Narrows and around the Upper Lake. It stopped at every dock to deliver mail and supplies. People loved meeting the boat to get the latest news.
Later, more people had their own boats. This made the regular steamboat trips unnecessary, so they stopped. As roads improved, campers started driving closer to their camps. This meant fewer people needed launches, and their numbers went down.
Today, many cottages fill the east side of the lower lake. The value of land along the shore keeps going up.
The First Union Protestant Church of Mountain View is an important historical building. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Notable Person
- Smith Mead Weed was a lawyer and businessman from Bellmont. He was also a member of the New York State Assembly.
Geography of Bellmont
Bellmont covers a total area of about 433 square kilometers (167 square miles). Most of this is land, with a small part being water.
The eastern edge of the town is the border with Clinton County. The southern part of Bellmont is located inside the Adirondack Park. This is a large protected area.
Two main roads, New York State Route 190 and New York State Route 374, meet in the northeastern part of the town in a place called Brainardsville.
The Châteauguay River flows north from Lower Chateaugay Lake. This lake is on the eastern town line. Lower Chateaugay Lake is connected to Upper Chateaugay Lake (which is in Clinton County) by a narrow passage called the Chateaugay Narrows.
Population Information
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1840 | 472 | — | |
| 1850 | 660 | 39.8% | |
| 1860 | 1,376 | 108.5% | |
| 1870 | 1,619 | 17.7% | |
| 1880 | 2,098 | 29.6% | |
| 1890 | 2,263 | 7.9% | |
| 1900 | 2,414 | 6.7% | |
| 1910 | 2,341 | −3.0% | |
| 1920 | 1,552 | −33.7% | |
| 1930 | 1,303 | −16.0% | |
| 1940 | 1,279 | −1.8% | |
| 1950 | 1,186 | −7.3% | |
| 1960 | 1,088 | −8.3% | |
| 1970 | 1,055 | −3.0% | |
| 1980 | 1,045 | −0.9% | |
| 1990 | 1,246 | 19.2% | |
| 2000 | 1,423 | 14.2% | |
| 2010 | 1,434 | 0.8% | |
| 2016 (est.) | 1,409 | −1.7% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
According to the 2000 census, Bellmont had 1,423 people living in 573 households. About 30% of these households had children under 18. Most households (57%) were married couples.
The population included people of different ages. About 25% were under 18, and 13.6% were 65 or older. The average age in the town was 39 years.
Communities and Places in Bellmont
Bellmont has several small communities and interesting spots:
- Bellmont Center – A small village near the northern town line.
- Brainardsville – A village in the northeastern corner where several roads meet. It was once called "Crompville."
- Bryants Mill – A village in the southern part of the town.
- Camp Chateaugay – A summer camp located on Upper Chateaugay Lake.
- Chateaugay Lake – This was once a busy "boom town" near Lower Chateaugay Lake. It was also known by names like Weeds, Moffits, Popeville, and The Forge. It is now abandoned.
- Indian Lake – A small lake in the southwestern part of the town.
- Middle Kilns – A location in the southeastern part of the town.
- Mountain View – A village in the southwestern part of the town. It used to be called "State Dam."
- Owls Head – A village in the southwestern part of the town.
- Porcaville – A location in the southwestern corner of the town.
- Ragged Lake – A small lake east of Indian Lake. It once had a hotel for tourists.
- Upper Kilns – Another location in the southeastern part of the town.
- Wolf Pond – A village in the southern part of the town, near the town line.
See also
In Spanish: Bellmont (Nueva York) para niños
