In Victoria Park, just off South Front Street, along the waterfront, Belleville
Commemoration
By 1790, the mill, tavern and stores established here near the Bay of Quinté had stimulated the growth of a settlement. Named "Belleville" in 1816, the village progressed steadily as a milling and shipping centre, and in 1834, the thriving community became a police village. The completion in 1856 of the Grand Trunk Railway between Toronto and Montreal, a booming lumber trade, and the development of a fertile agricultural hinterland fostered significant commercial and industrial growth in Belleville, which had become a town in 1850. Following the discovery of gold near Madoc in 1866, Belleville was known as the "golden gate" of Hastings County, and after 1872 became a major Canadian marketing centre for cheese. In 1877 it was incorporated as a city.
Background
The first name of the UEL settlement was Singleton’s Creek, named after early settler George Singleton, and later Meyer’s Creek after another early resident, John Walden Meyers. It was finally changed to Belleville after 1816 to honour Anabella Gore, wife of Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Gore.