- 1665 First white residents, two monks, move to area
- 1784 The first Loyalist refugees come to Hastings County
- 1787 First store - by Wm. Bell
- 1789 John Taylor buys farm land east of present day Church St
- 1790 First Industry - dam and lumbermill
- 1794 First brick house in Upper Canada by J.W. Myers
- 1794 First Lawyer - Mr. Hagerman by Special Act
- 1798 John Simpson opens first tavern on the southwest corner of Dundas and Front Streets. The first social center for the settlers.
- 1803 Ferry opens between Rossmore and Myers Creek(Belleville)
- 1804 First wooden bridge built across the Moira River
- 1809 First Schoolhouse
- 1816 Population 150
- 1816 Myer's Creek renamed Belleville afer Lady Bella Gore
- 1816 First Schoolboard formed
- 1818 Methodists errect the first church
- 1820's John Simpson's son builds the first INN on the northeast corner of Front and Dundas Streets
- 1830 Belleville's population 1,700
- 1831 The Phoenix, Belleville's first newspaper
- 1832 James McNabb builds his house, halfway up the hill, on the south side of West Bridge Street
- 1836 Belleville becomes an independent municipality and police village
- 1838 A court house and gaol are built on the brow of the hill on Pinnacle Street
- 1850 Benjamin Davy becomes Belleville's first Mayor
- 1850 Population 2,200
- 1854 Gas in Belleville and gas works built
- 1856 The Grand Trunk railway comes to Belleville
- 1860 The Town of Belleville separates from the County of Hastings for municipal purposes
- 1865 Population approximately 6,000
- 1866 Belleville Seminary becomes Albert College
- 1868 Ontario Business College founded
- 1870 Ontario School for the Deaf opened
- 1870 Belleville has a police force of 8 men
- 1873 New Town Hall and Market Building built
- 1876 First Library opened
- 1877 December 31st, Belleville becomes a CITY of 11,000
- 1881 First telephone switchboard is installed
- 1883 Twenty-nine telephone subscribers listed in the phone directory
- 1885 the first electrical pole lines were erected but not until 1901 are street lights installed
- 1886 Belleville's first waterworks is constructed
- 1891 the Bridge from Belleville to Prince Edward County was completed, but subsequently becoming a toll bridge in the depression of the early nineties until 1921 when the city, county and government purchased the bridge and removed the tolls
- 1895 Electric streetcars inaugurated
- 1912 New YMCA on Campbell Street
- 1914 First aeroplane factory in Canada
- 1916 First permanent fire-fighting force organized
- 1919 Belleville Chamber of Commerce established
- 1920 Belleville's industrial sector booms
- 1935 Population 14,500
- 1946 CJBQ radio station goes on air
- 1950's Hastings Manor, a house for the aged is opened on Hwy #2, on the outskirts of the city
- 1958 new Stanley Park sub-development opens in Belleville's east end
- 1960 County Administration Building erected on Pinnacle Street
- 1963 North Front Street overhead bridge opens
- 1966 Population 32,400
- 1970 conerstone of Loyalist College laid by the Governor General of Canada, then, Roland Michener
- 1976 Century Place, downtown four corners, opens
- 2006 Population 48,821 (metropolitan population 91,518)
|
