Bellefontaine

Bellefontaine was one of the first settlements made by Americans in what is now Illinois. The earliest settlers included families of Revolutionary War veterans who had served with George Rogers Clark. Captain James Moore brought a band of pioneers from Virginia and Maryland in the winter of 1781-1782. The settlement took its name from a nearby spring the French called ‘La Belle Fontaine’ (beautiful spring). By the 1800’s it was the third largest community in the Illinois Territory.