Belmont, Indiana

Belmont is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Brown County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.[3]

Belmont, Indiana
Unincorporated community
Brown County's location in Indiana
Belmont Location in Brown County
Coordinates: 39°09′07″N 86°20′50″W
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Brown
Township	Washington
Elevation [1]	574 ft (175 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	47448
Area code(s)	812 & 930
FIPS code	18-04564[2]
GNIS feature ID	430784

History

Belmont was originally the settlement of the Shakers, who quickly died out. However, they left the bell from their church. The bell went with the land in the government auction. The bell remained until 1920 by that time the name Belmont had become official.

A post office was established at Belmont in 1884, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1916.[4]

In 1907 Hoosier Group artist T. C. Steele and his wife, Selma Neubacher Steele, moved into newly built studio and home on 60 acres (24 hectares) of hilltop land one and a half miles south of Belmont. They named their summer retreat the House of the Singing Winds; it became their year-round residence in 1912.[5][6] After purchasing additional acreage in 1911 to increase their Brown County property to 211 acres (85 hectares) of land, they made further improvements that included an enlarged home surrounded by expansive gardens, a large studio-gallery, and several other outbuildings.[7] In July 1945 Selma donated the entire property and more than 300 of her husband's paintings to the Indiana Department of Conservation (the present-day Indiana Department of Natural Resources) to preserve it as the T. C. Steele State Historic Site. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The T. C. Steele Memorial Cemetery, which is also in the state historic site near Belmont, includes the graves of T. C. and Selma Steele.[8]

John Mellencamp owns a recording studio in Belmont called Belmont Mall.

Geography

Belmont is located at 39°09′07″N 86°20′50″W. The hamlet is located on State Road 46, halfway between Nashville and Bloomington in west-central Brown County.

References

1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
3. "Belmont, Indiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
4. "Brown County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
5. Rachel Berenson Perry (2011). Paint and Canvas: A Life of T. C. Steele. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. pp. 85, 91–92. ISBN 978-0871952950.
6. Ray E. Boomhower (2000). Destination Indiana: Travels Through Hoosier History. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. p. 185. ISBN 0-87195-147-9..
7. Rachel Berenson Perry (Winter 2016). "Selma Neubacher Steele: A Woman Ahead of Her Time". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. 28 (1): 12.
8. Rachel Berenson Perry; Selma N. Steele; Theodore Steele & Wilbur D. Peat (2016). The House of the Singing Winds: The Life and Work of T. C. Steele (revised ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. ISBN 9780871953988.