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Belle, Missouri

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Jefferson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65013. The Survey maps it on the Belle quadrangle. 1,381 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,027 feet above sea level.

Belle within Maries County

Population over time

2 figures

Belle fell from 1,545 to 1,381 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,545
20201,381-164 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

28 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Belle between 1992 and 2018, burning about 278 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning14
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Arson/incendiarism2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Smoking1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
30 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
3 August 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation177869-03731-08032018-1430
2 August 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
15 August 2001Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
31 July 1999Debris and open burning5.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
9 June 2018Equipment and vehicle use3.1 acresMissouri Department of Conservation177870-03731-06092018-1420
9 May 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
6 May 1992Debris and open burning3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Maries County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 84 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 84 workings within 5 miles of Belle: 80 past producers, 4 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Fire Clay (Refractory), Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Campbell & Lichte PitFire Clay (Refractory)Past Producer
Crider MineFire Clay (Refractory)Past Producer
Dahm PitFire Clay (Refractory)Past Producer
H.Drewell ClaypitFire Clay (Refractory)Past Producer

Every working recorded in Maries County

Storms near this place

32 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Belle in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 13 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 7 flash flood, 2 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 1994Thunderstorm WindBelle$500,000A shed was blown off its foundation and into the west side of a neighboring house. Winds ripped apart the breezeway from another house and drove the pole supports into the roof. At least two other houses received damage to shingles. Strong winds also brought down a few power lines and large trees.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindBelle$10,000no account filed
May 2017Thunderstorm WindBelle$5,000There were multiple trees and power lines blown down.
April 1998HailBelle$5,000Hail accumulated to a depth of two to three inches along Highway M from just east of Summerfield to Belle.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindBelle$5,000no account filed
June 1996Flash FloodBelle$5,000no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindBelle$2,000Severe thunderstorm wind gusts knocked over large trees over causing power lines to fall.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBelle$1,500A large tree fell down on a house near Belle.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindBelle$1,000Report of a tree down off Highway 28 south of Belle.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBelle-A few large trees were reported blown down at Belle.
May 2013Flash FloodBelle-Highway 42 was flooded one half mile west of Highway 28.
January 2010FloodBelle-A low water crossing, on County Road 406 along a branch of the Dry Fork River, was flooded and impassable.
February 2008Flash FloodBelle-A section of County Road 627 five miles north of Dixon experienced flash flooding and was impassable to motorists.
January 2008Flash FloodBelle-Excessive rainfall caused flash flooding in several areas of Maries County. A couple of specific locations along Highway FF that were impacted include low water crossings at Spring Creek and Mill Creek.
March 2008FloodBelle-This flooding is a continuation of the flash flooding. Poor drainage areas continued to flood roadways and lowlands near rivers and creeks.
April 2008Flash FloodBelle-One half of an inch to three quarters of an inch of rain fell over Maries County. Numerous roads and low water crossings within the county experienced flash flooding.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBelle-Several trees were downed from severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2004Flash FloodBelle-Flash flooding washed out a section of Highway 42 near the community of Belle.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindBelle-Power lines and large tree limbs were snapped or blown down.
May 2013HailBelle-no account filed
March 2012HailBelle-no account filed
March 2008HailBelle-no account filed
April 2006HailBelle-no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindBelle-no account filed
May 2004HailBelle-no account filed
August 2003HailBelle-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindBelle-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindBelle-no account filed
August 2001HailBelle-no account filed
April 1999HailBelle-no account filed
June 1997Flash FloodBelle-no account filed
October 1996HailBelle-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Maries County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Summerfield4.5 miles17
Paydown5.9 miles18
Paydown Ford (historical)6.1 miles18
Lanes Prairie6.9 miles17
Lindell8.8 miles18
High Gate9.2 miles17
Bend9.2 miles18
Lois9.7 miles18

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on BelleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q631307The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 713921. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.