Belleville, Ontario – Part 1 – My Top 16 Picks

Belleville, Ontario – Part 1 – My Top 16 Picks

Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in southeastern Ontario. It was the site of a village of the Mississaugas in the eighteenth century. It was settled by United Empire Loyalists beginning in 1784. It was named Belleville in honor of Lady Arabella Gore in 1816, after a visit to the settlement by Sir Francis Gore and his wife.

It is known as the “friendly city” because it offers big city amenities along with small town friendliness, and a pleasing mixture of the historic and modern.

Belleville became an important railway junction with the completion of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1855. In 1858 the iron bridge over the Moira River at Bridge Street was constructed. Belleville’s beautiful High Victorian Gothic city hall was built in 1872 to house the public market and administrative offices.

Due to its location near Lake Ontario, its climate is moderated by cooling hot summer days and warming cold days during the fall and winter.

Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, Redpath, and Sears are corporations operating in Belleville.  There are many other manufacturing sector companies which operate within the City of Belleville, including Sprague Foods, Sigma Stretch Film Canada, Reid’s Dairy, and Parmalat Canada – Black Diamond Cheese Division, to name a few.

Belleville has an excellent yacht harbor, which is a picturesque stopping point for Great Lakes sailors and a favorite launch for sports fishing enthusiasts after walleye, pike and bass. Beautiful music chimes can be heard all year long from the City Hall clock tower, overlooking the new civic square and Farmers Market. Walking, biking and rollerblading can be enjoyed on the Bayshore and Riverfront Trails.

Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario

234 Ann Street (corner of Queen) – Ilcombe – Queen Anne style – three-story tower, dormer, Ionic veranda pillars – Belleville Book 2


Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario

197 Charles Street – built 1872-1873 – mixture of Italianate, Victorian, Second Empire and Gothic styles – mansard roof on 3½-storey tower with small Gothic windows and iron cresting; voussoirs and keystones, dentil molding, bay window with brackets, pediment above door – Belleville Book 2


Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario

160 Charles Street – Second Empire – mansard roof, dormers with window hoods, polychromatic tile work, two-storey wing with ornate capitals on the two-storey veranda with open railing – Belleville Book 2


Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario

199 MacDonald Avenue – elaborately spindled railings on both lower and upper wraparound verandahs, Corinthian pillars, finial on gable – Belleville Book 2

Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
Church Street – two-story bay windows, cornice brackets, dormers with iron cresting, widow’s walk on rooftop with iron cresting; 2½-story section has a hipped roof; 2-story part has a mansard roof – Belleville Book 1
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
4 Church Street – verge board trim and finial on gable, two-story bay window, dormers with trim, keystones, sidelights and transom window – Belleville Book 1
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
5 Church Street – hipped roof, cornice brackets, voussoirs with keystones – Belleville Book 1
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
200 John Street – Second Empire style – mansard roof, dormers with window hoods, tall chimneys, bay window – Belleville Book 1
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
221 John Street – Built 1871, two-story brick with a 2-story bay; the lintels are off-white brick and match the decorative course surrounding the house at the second floor level; chimneys are Tudor type with brick bases topped with small string courses; front porch has wooden gable roof supported by massive wooden brackets, cornice brackets under eaves – Belleville Book 1
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
159-161 George Street – Italianate – north side has a projecting two-story bay with a string course above the ground floor windows; south side has a projecting five window bay with carved wood paneling above it; window above has an arched lintel, two-story frontispiece, gable with verge board trim – heritage property – Belleville Book 1
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
165 William Street – Arts and Crafts – stone and brick – Belleville Book 2
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
166 William Street – Gothic – trim on gable, ornate capital detailing on veranda support posts with spindle trim below cornice – Belleville Book 2
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
184 William Street – Italianate – two-story frontispiece with verge board trim and finial on gable, cornice brackets, impressive entrance – Belleville Book 2
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
228 Charles Street – lots of iron cresting decorating the roof lines, wraparound verandah with open railing, pillars with ornate capitals, pediment with decorated tympanum, sidelights and transom windows – Belleville Book 2
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
233 Charles Street – Second Empire style – mansard roof with dormers and window hoods, brackets and decorative cornice, keystones – Belleville Book 2
Architectural Photos, Belleville, Ontario
221 Charles Street – hipped roof with dormers, cornice brackets, bay windows with iron cresting above, pediment – Belleville Book 2