Belle Rive is a village in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 309 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area. In 1852, Edmund P. Grant bought about 480 acres of federal land grants around what was to become Belle Rive. Grant was a wealthy land speculator from Montgomery County, Tennessee…Belle Rive is a village in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 309 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area. In 1852, Edmund P. Grant bought about 480 acres 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.
Save
Share
More