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.
Population over time
2 figuresBelle 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,545 | |
| 2020 | 1,381 | -164 (-11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1934 USGS Bland quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1937 USGS Bland quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Saint Louis quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS St. Louis quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS St. Louis quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS St. Louis quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS St. Louis quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Belle quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Sullivan quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
28 since 1992Regional 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 burning | 14 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 3 August 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177869-03731-08032018-1430 |
| 2 August 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 15 August 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 31 July 1999 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 9 June 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.1 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177870-03731-06092018-1420 |
| 9 May 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 6 May 1992 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 84 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown - Limestone | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Limestone | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Limestone | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Limestone | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Limestone | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Campbell & Lichte Pit | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Past Producer | ||
| Crider Mine | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Past Producer | ||
| Dahm Pit | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Past Producer | ||
| H.Drewell Claypit | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
32 since 1994Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $500,000 | A 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 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $5,000 | There were multiple trees and power lines blown down. |
| April 1998 | Hail | Belle | $5,000 | Hail accumulated to a depth of two to three inches along Highway M from just east of Summerfield to Belle. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Flash Flood | Belle | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $2,000 | Severe thunderstorm wind gusts knocked over large trees over causing power lines to fall. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $1,500 | A large tree fell down on a house near Belle. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | $1,000 | Report of a tree down off Highway 28 south of Belle. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | - | A few large trees were reported blown down at Belle. |
| May 2013 | Flash Flood | Belle | - | Highway 42 was flooded one half mile west of Highway 28. |
| January 2010 | Flood | Belle | - | A low water crossing, on County Road 406 along a branch of the Dry Fork River, was flooded and impassable. |
| February 2008 | Flash Flood | Belle | - | A section of County Road 627 five miles north of Dixon experienced flash flooding and was impassable to motorists. |
| January 2008 | Flash Flood | Belle | - | 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 2008 | Flood | Belle | - | This flooding is a continuation of the flash flooding. Poor drainage areas continued to flood roadways and lowlands near rivers and creeks. |
| April 2008 | Flash Flood | Belle | - | 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 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | - | Several trees were downed from severe thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| July 2004 | Flash Flood | Belle | - | Flash flooding washed out a section of Highway 42 near the community of Belle. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | - | Power lines and large tree limbs were snapped or blown down. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| March 2008 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Belle | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Flash Flood | Belle | - | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Hail | Belle | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summerfield | 4.5 miles | 17 | |
| Paydown | 5.9 miles | 18 | |
| Paydown Ford (historical) | 6.1 miles | 18 | |
| Lanes Prairie | 6.9 miles | 17 | |
| Lindell | 8.8 miles | 18 | |
| High Gate | 9.2 miles | 17 | |
| Bend | 9.2 miles | 18 | |
| Lois | 9.7 miles | 18 |
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 Belle | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q631307 | The 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.








