Local events in Bellaire
16 events in the next 90 days from 2 public calendars. All local events in Bellaire
Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
Lakes near Bellaire
The history under the water: the valley before, the dam, the stories. All Ohio lakes
How Bellaire began
Bellaire was founded in 1834 when John Rodefer and Jacob Davis bought a majority stake in the land and named the town Bell Air after Davis's former Maryland home, later standardized to Bellaire. The Central Ohio Railroad reached it in 1853, and an 1871 stone viaduct linked it to Wheeling, West Virginia, cementing its role as an Ohio River industrial hub. Bellaire earned the nickname 'Glass City' between roughly 1870 and 1885, and even after the industry's center shifted toward Toledo following the discovery of natural gas near Findlay, the Imperial Glass Company, founded there in 1901, kept the village's glassmaking reputation alive worldwide with its Candlewick pattern until closing in 1984. The village's population peaked at 15,061 in 1920 and has declined steadily since, to under 4,000 by 2020.
Platted 1834, by John Rodefer and Jacob Davis.
Where the name comes from
Named Bell Air by founder Jacob Davis after his former home in Maryland; the spelling was later standardized to Bellaire by the railroad company serving the town.
Before the town
No Native village, camp, or trail specific to the site of Bellaire is documented in the sources consulted. The village's Ohio River location, opposite Wheeling, lay within the same general eighteenth-century Lenape, Shawnee, Wyandot, and Mingo travel and hunting range as the rest of Belmont County.
Timeline
- — John Rodefer and Jacob Davis found Bellaire, naming it Bell Air after Davis's former Maryland home.
- — The Central Ohio Railroad, later absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio, reaches Bellaire.
- — Camp Jefferson is established in Bellaire as a Union Army training facility during the Civil War, taking advantage of the town's position on the Ohio River border.
- — A stone viaduct bridge opens, connecting Bellaire to Wheeling, West Virginia, and knitting the two industrial towns together across the Ohio River.
- — The B & O Railroad Viaduct at Bellaire is completed, later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- — Edward Muhleman founds the Imperial Glass Company in Bellaire.
- — Imperial Glass Company's 29th Street factory building, designed by architect Harry E. Forney, is constructed; production begins the following year, and the factory becomes one of the largest glass factories under one roof.
- — Bellaire's population peaks at 15,061.
- — The Imperial Glass Company, by then under Lenox ownership and hurt by falling demand, closes.
- — The Imperial Glass factory building on 29th Street is razed for commercial development, though the company's former Belmont Street office survives as the National Imperial Glass Museum.
Stories
The largest glass factory under one roof
Bellaire had already been known as the 'Glass City' for decades, its factories driven by the natural gas discovered nearby in the 1880s, when Edward Muhleman founded the Imperial Glass Company there in 1901. By the time the company's architect-designed 29th Street factory started production in 1904, Bellaire's older glass boom had largely moved on to Toledo and Fostoria, following cheaper gas supplies west, but Imperial built something big enough to outlast that shift: a plant so large it was called one of the biggest glass factories under a single roof anywhere, turning out handmade pressed glass sold around the world. Its best-known pattern, Candlewick, became so central to the town's identity that a Bellaire street was named for it. The company survived the Depression, two world wars, and decades of change before finally closing in 1984 under new ownership; the factory itself came down in 1995, but the company's old office building on Belmont Street lives on as the National Imperial Glass Museum, keeping the pattern's name, and the town's glassmaking memory, on display.
Photographs
Photo: Bwsmith84, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Bwsmith84, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org
Historic places
4 places in Bellaire on the National Register of Historic Places. Press a pin or a name for its whole record.
-
B & O Railroad ViaductStructure · Bellaire · listed 1976
- Address
- 31st St.
- Where
- Bellaire, Belmont County · ZIP 43906
- What it is
- Structure
- Listed on the National Register
- 1976
- NRIS reference number
- 76001370
- Coordinates
- 40.01324, -80.74414
National Register file (NPS) ↗ Search Wikipedia ↗ Street map and directions ↗ On the Cracked Buckeye map
-
Belleview HeightsBuilding · Belaire · listed 1994
- Address
- 65100 Candlewick Ln.
- Where
- Belaire, Belmont County · ZIP 43906
- What it is
- Building
- Listed on the National Register
- 1994
- NRIS reference number
- 94000259
- Coordinates
- 40.02820, -80.74338
National Register file (NPS) ↗ Search Wikipedia ↗ Street map and directions ↗ On the Cracked Buckeye map
-
Imperial Glass CompanyBuilding · Bellaire · listed 1983
- Address
- 29th and Belmont Sts.
- Where
- Bellaire, Belmont County · ZIP 43906
- What it is
- Building
- Listed on the National Register
- 1983
- NRIS reference number
- 83001945
- Coordinates
- 40.01154, -80.74672
National Register file (NPS) ↗ Search Wikipedia ↗ Street map and directions ↗ On the Cracked Buckeye map
-
Zweig BuildingBuilding · Bellaire · listed 2000
- Address
- 3396 Belmont St.
- Where
- Bellaire, Belmont County · ZIP 43906
- What it is
- Building
- Listed on the National Register
- 2000
- NRIS reference number
- 00000018
- Coordinates
- 40.01882, -80.74201
National Register file (NPS) ↗ Search Wikipedia ↗ Street map and directions ↗ On the Cracked Buckeye map
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places point file. The listing year is shown where NPS's certification date agrees with the listing's reference number. Listing recognizes significance; it does not restrict a private owner.
Water
Ohio River water drawn through a shallow river-connected aquifer (under 30 ft deep, rated 'very high' susceptibility by Ohio EPA), then given full surface-water treatment: coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection. The water here
- Bellaire Public Water System82% of residentsOhio River (via bank infiltration wells)
- Belmont Co. Sanitary District 317% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (wells)
- St. Clairsville, City Of0% of residentsSt. Clairsville Main & Provident Reservoirs (local runoff)
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Bellaire's boundary: 1 hospital, 1 fire or EMS station, 1 public school, 1 private school, 1 poor-rated bridge, 1 library, 1 museum, 1 police station, 1 Superfund site and 3 spill cases. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Hospitals (1)
-
Acuity Specialty Hospital - Ohio Valley at BelmontLong-term acute care hospital · Bellaire
- What it is
- Long-term acute care hospital
- Address
- 4697 Harrison Street, Bellaire, OH 43906
- County
- Belmont County
- Beds
- 39
- Ownership
- Proprietary
- Phone
- (704) 887-7283
Hospital's website ↗ Where HIFLD got this record ↗ HIFLD hospitals (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: HIFLD hospitals inventory via FEMA (closed hospitals it still lists left out, hospitals opened since added), with Medicare Care Compare ratings matched by name and address.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Bellaire Fire DepartmentBellaire
- Address
- 2450 Belmont Street, Bellaire, OH 43906
- Coordinates
- 40.00921, -80.74494
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Public schools (1)
-
Bellaire High School3 of 5 stars · Bellaire
- Address
- 349 35th St, Bellaire, OH 43906
- School district
- Bellaire City School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 289
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 23.5
- Report card, 2025-26
- 3 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 80.3%
- Four-year graduation rate
- 93.3%
- Ohio building IRN
- 002139
- NCES school ID
- 390435700135
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NCES EDGE public school locations 2024-25 and Common Core of Data 2023-24 (type, students, teachers); Ohio School Report Cards 2025-26 (Department of Education and Workforce), matched by name within the district.
Private schools (1)
-
St John Central AcademyPrivate, religious, independent · Bellaire
- Address
- 3625 Guernsey St, Bellaire, OH 43906
- Kind
- religious, independent
- Students, 2023-24
- 81
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 18.8
- Students per teacher
- 4.30851
- Phone
- (740) 676-4832
- NCES private school ID
- A2103003
Source: NCES Private School Survey 2023-24.
Bridges rated poor (1)
-
41st Street over Jordan RunPoor · built 1932
- Condition
- Poor: a deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale
- What it is
- Bridge
- Built
- 1932
- Length
- 8 ft
- Owner
- City
- Vehicles a day
- 1,295
- Coordinates
- 40.02487, -80.74946
National Bridge Inventory (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory 2025. "Poor" means one major part rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale; it calls for repair, not closing, unless the state posts or closes the bridge.
Public libraries (1)
-
Bellaire Public LibraryCentral library · Bellaire
- Address
- 330 32Nd Street, Bellaire, OH 43906
- What it is
- Central library
- Library system
- Bellaire Public Library
- Open
- 2,704 hours a year, 52 weeks
- Building
- 16,570 sq ft
- System's visits, FY2024
- 15,548
- System's loans, FY2024
- 31,222
- People the system serves
- 9,276
- Phone
- (740) 676-9421
IMLS Public Libraries Survey (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2024 (outlets and their systems). Any Ohio resident can get a free card at any Ohio public library.
Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)
-
Unofficial Lego & Toy MuseumMuseum · Bellaire
- What it is
- Museum
- City
- Bellaire
- Coordinates
- 40.02822, -80.74015
Search Wikipedia ↗ IMLS Museum Data Files (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
The museum list is IMLS's 2018 file; a museum may have closed or moved since.
Source: IMLS Museum Data Files, 2018.
Police stations (1)
-
Bellaire Police DepartmentBellaire
- Address
- 3197 Belmont Street, Bellaire, OH 43906
- Coordinates
- 40.01394, -80.74376
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures, police stations, corrected and completed by hand (September 2026). The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction, not by distance.
Superfund sites (1)
-
Bellaire WellfieldSuperfund program · Bellaire
- Address
- 317 37Th Street, Bellaire, OH 43906
- County
- Belmont County
- Status
- Superfund program site, not on the National Priorities List
- EPA program ID
- OHN000505572
- EPA registry ID
- 110067036139
EPA facility record ↗ EPA Facility Registry Service (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Superfund (SEMS) and National Priorities List sites. Many program sites were assessed and needed no cleanup.
Spills reported since 2021 (3)
-
Oil Motor / Lube Oil / Vehicle2025-05-12 · Bellaire
- Reported
- 2025-05-12
- What spilled
- Oil Motor / Lube Oil / Vehicle
- Where
- Bellaire, Belmont County
- Ohio EPA district office
- SEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2505EPA0000742
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Fuel Diesel / Diesel Fuel (Vehicle On Or Off Road) Reached water2024-10-14 · Bellaire
- Reported
- 2024-10-14
- What spilled
- Fuel Diesel / Diesel Fuel (Vehicle On Or Off Road)
- Largest amount reported
- 2 gallons
- Reached a waterway
- 07 - Ohio River
- Where
- Bellaire, Belmont County
- Ohio EPA district office
- SEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2410EPA0001752
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Material Unknown Reached water2021-08-26 · Bellaire
- Reported
- 2021-08-26
- What spilled
- Material Unknown
- Reached a waterway
- 56 - Ohio River
- Where
- Bellaire, West Virginia SE County
- Ohio EPA district office
- SEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2108EPA0001336
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: Ohio EPA emergency response spill reports, 2021 to September 2026, one point per case where Ohio EPA placed it. A report is what the caller or responder recorded; amounts are often blank or estimated.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Bellaire, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43906 Bellaire | 49% | Ohio River water drawn through a shallow river-connected aquifer (under 30 ft deep, rated 'very high' susceptibility by Ohio EPA), then given full surface-water treatment: coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection. | 4.6 pCi/L average radon | Median year built 1937 | Bellaire City · 3 stars overall | 2.4% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Bellaire, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-08 | Issue: Village of Bellaire - Petition Marijuana | 699 | 685 | Passed (50.51% for) |
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-11-02 | Village Council (unofficial count) | Robert Kapral 284, 48.97%; Jerry Olack 296, 51.03% |
| 2021-11-02 | Mayor (unofficial count) | Michael W. Doyle 213, 45.61%; Write-In: Edward L. Marling 245, 52.46% |
| 2019-11-05 | Village Council | Elizabeth A. Dugmore 177, 38.73%; Jerry L. Fisher 192, 42.01%; Write-In: Daniel L. Young 79, 17.29% |
| 2017-11-07 | Village Council | Donny Maupin (DEM) 419, 37.54%; Nikki Liberatore 354, 31.72%; Gay Lucci (DEM) 343, 30.73% |
| 2017-11-07 | Mayor | Vincent DiFabrizio (DEM) 434, 65.76%; Dan Brown 221, 33.48% |
| 2017-11-07 | Clerk Treasurer | Thomas L. Sable (DEM) 513, 100.0% |
| 2015-11-03 | Village Council | Lou Ann Bennett (DEM) 303, 25.96%; Jerry L. Fisher (DEM) 520, 44.56%; Write-In: Dan Brown 324, 27.76% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.
The county
Belmont County: 23 ZIP codes, 29 cities, villages and townships, 64,982 people.
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Bellaire, day by day, from 1878 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 2.62 in
- 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-30
- rain so far in 2026
- 44.9 in
- 8.8 in above normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 20.5 in
- a normal year brings 23.3 in
- a normal year
- 42.5 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 2.62 | — | 30 |
| September 2026 | 5.08 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 8.22 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 3.95 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 5.29 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 5.50 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5.02 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 6.41 | 3.3 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.85 | 2.8 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.92 | 14.4 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 2.04 | 11.5 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 2.13 | 0.0 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2018 — 67.1 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1930 — 24.3 in |
| Snowiest year | 2003 — 58.2 in |
| Wettest day on record | 18 September 2004 — 5.58 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 17 December 1890 — 17.01 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 29 November 1950 — 23.02 in |
Mostly estimated. Only 1% of these days come from a gauge standing inside Bellaire - the rest are worked out from the nearest gauges around it, so read them as close estimates rather than readings.
51,992 days of records, 1878-02-01 to 2026-10-30. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-11-01): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-11-01 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Environmental permits and filings
What Ohio EPA has on file for Bellaire: permits, inspections, violations, cleanups and the state loans behind sewer and water work. Every line links to the agency's own document.
- facilities and sites on file
- 67
- those placed on the map inside Bellaire
| Program | Facilities and sites |
|---|---|
| Hazardous waste | 15 |
| Contaminated-site cleanup | 10 |
| Voluntary cleanup | 9 |
| Air pollution | 7 |
| Brownfield | 7 |
| Site assessment | 6 |
| State water loans | 5 |
| Wastewater and stormwater discharge | 4 |
| Public drinking water | 2 |
| Landfills | 1 |
| Source-water protection | 1 |
| Date | Facility or site | What |
|---|---|---|
| GSV TRIANGLE PROPERTY | Voluntary cleanup covenant | |
| EASTERN OHIO REGIONAL WW AUTHORITY | Wastewater and stormwater discharge plan | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water notice of violation | |
| EASTERN OHIO REGIONAL WW AUTHORITY | Wastewater and stormwater discharge inspection | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| MPR SAND TERMINALS LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| GREAT STONE VIADUCT/CSX PROPERTY BELLAIRE | Voluntary cleanup covenant | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water report | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| MPR SAND TERMINALS LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| EASTERN OHIO REGIONAL WW AUTHORITY | Wastewater and stormwater discharge inspection | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| MPR SAND TERMINALS LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| MPR SAND TERMINALS LLC | Air pollution notice of violation | |
| EASTERN OHIO REGIONAL WW AUTHORITY | Wastewater and stormwater discharge report | |
| MPR SAND TERMINALS LLC | Air pollution report | |
| BELLAIRE HARBOR SERVICE LLC | Air pollution report | |
| OXFORD MINING -- BELLAIRE DOCK | Air pollution report | |
| MPR SOUTH RIVER DOCK | Air pollution report | |
| BELLAIRE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter |
Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.
Quick answers
What county is Bellaire, Ohio in?
Bellaire is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, with 3,873 residents.
When was Bellaire, Ohio founded?
Bellaire was laid out 1834. Founders on record: John Rodefer and Jacob Davis. Source
How did Bellaire, Ohio get its name?
Named Bell Air by founder Jacob Davis after his former home in Maryland; the spelling was later standardized to Bellaire by the railroad company serving the town. Source
What ZIP code is Bellaire, Ohio?
Most of Bellaire is in ZIP code 43906.
Where does Bellaire, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Bellaire (Bellaire Public Water System): Ohio River water drawn through a shallow river-connected aquifer (under 30 ft deep, rated 'very high' susceptibility by Ohio EPA), then given full surface-water treatment: coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Bellaire, Belmont County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/bellaire/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
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