Belmore

How Belmore began

Belmore, in northern Van Buren Township, had a post office as early as 1856, six years before the settlement itself was platted in 1862 under the name Montgomeryville; it was later renamed Belmore and incorporated in 1882. The village's population peaked at 445 in 1880 and has declined steadily since, standing at 65 by the 2020 census.

Platted 1862 (as Montgomeryville), incorporated 1882, by John Shakely, deputy county surveyor, laid out the plat for Wesley G. Montgomery, who acted under power of attorney for proprietors Benjamin and Mary Ann Plummer.

Where the name comes from

Platted in 1862 by deputy county surveyor John Shakely for Wesley G. Montgomery, who was acting under power of attorney for the actual landowners, Benjamin and Mary Ann Plummer; the seventeen-lot plat was named Montgomeryville. A post office under the name Belmore had already opened nearby in 1856, and around 1868 the village dropped the plat name in favor of the post office's, since having two names for the same place caused confusion.

Before the town

No Native American site or village specific to Belmore was located in the sources checked.

Timeline

1. 1856 — A post office called Belmore is established, six years before the settlement itself is platted.
2. 1862 — Deputy county surveyor John Shakely plats the settlement as Montgomeryville for Wesley G. Montgomery, acting under power of attorney for proprietors Benjamin and Mary Ann Plummer.
3. c. 1868 — The village drops the name Montgomeryville in favor of Belmore, the existing post office name, to end confusion from having two names.
4. 1869 — The Dayton & Michigan railroad and the surveyors Knox and Speaker lay out additions to the village.
5. 1874 — John H. George and Alexander Williamson lay out a further addition to Belmore.
6. 1880 — The village's population peaks at 445 residents.
7. 1882 — Belmore incorporates as an Ohio village, with O. Judson as its first mayor.
8. 1910 — The village's population is recorded at 298.
9. 1964 — The Belmore post office, open since 1856, is discontinued.

Stories

A Post Office Before Its Town

Most Putnam County villages follow the ordinary order of things: land is platted, a settlement grows, and eventually a post office follows to serve the people already there. Belmore ran the sequence backward. Its post office opened in 1856 under the name Belmore, serving a rural neighborhood that had not yet been formally laid out as a town at all; only in 1862, six years later, was the settlement itself platted, by deputy county surveyor John Shakely, and then under an entirely different name, Montgomeryville, for Wesley G. Montgomery, who was acting on behalf of the actual landowners, Benjamin and Mary Ann Plummer. Having two names for one place -- a post office called Belmore and a plat called Montgomeryville -- proved confusing enough that around 1868 the village dropped the plat name and kept the post office's. It incorporated as Belmore in 1882, at almost the exact moment its population was cresting toward its all-time peak of 445 residents in 1880. From there the story is one of slow, steady decline rather than any single dramatic event: by the 2020 census Belmore counted just 65 residents, a sixth of its 1880 peak, and the post office that had given the village its name closed in 1964 after 108 years of continuous service.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org

No water-system data is linked to Belmore's ZIP codes yet.

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2022: 2 of 2 passed; of those asking for new or higher taxes, 1 of 1.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• Fiscal emergency: declared 2025-12-18, still in effect. source
• Fiscal watch: declared 2007-12-21, released 2010-04-15. source
• Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2026-01-08
• Fiscal Emergency Analysis - Declaration, 2024 to 2025, released 2025-12-18
• Special Audit, 2016 to 2022, released 2025-08-21

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.

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