Belleville (Canada 2006 Census population 48,821, census agglomeration population 91,518) is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern (Southeastern) Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region. The current mayor of Belleville is Neil Ellis.

History

Originally the site of a Native settlement known as Asukhknosk, the future location of the city was settled by United Empire Loyalists in 1789, after which it became known as Meyer's Creek after prominent settler and industrialist John Walden Meyers. It was renamed Belleville in honour of Lady Arabella Gore in 1816, after a visit to the settlement by Sir Francis Gore and his wife. Belleville became an important railway junction with the completion of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1855. In 1858 the iron bridge over the Moira at Bridge Street became the first iron bridge in Hastings County. Belleville's strikingly beautiful Gothic city hall was constructed in 1872. The City Hall tower stands some 185 feet above street level.

In 1998, the city was amalgamated with the surrounding Township of Thurlow to form an expanded City of Belleville as part of Ontario-wide municipal restructuring. The city also annexed portions of Quinte West to the west.

Geography and climate

Belleville is located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in southeastern Ontario between the cities of Quinte West to the west and Napanee to the east. These cities are connected by both Ontario's Highway 2 and the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway (Highway 401); The city is also served by Highway 37, running north-south from Belleville towards Tweed to the east of the Moira River; and Highway 62 (once Highway 14 south of 401), northwards towards Madoc, and southward to Prince Edward County over the Bay Bridge.

Belleville is located in a transitional zone which may be considered part of the Central Ontario or Eastern Ontario regions by different sources. Officially, Belleville is properly considered part of the Central Ontario region as it is located west of the St. Lawrence River's starting point, but the city is popularly considered part of Eastern Ontario as it shares the eastern region's area code 613 and K postal code.

Major Routes in Belleville

Highway 62/North Front Street

Highway 62 runs from the northern city limit with the Township of Centre Hastings to the southern boundary with the Municipality of Prince Edward County (where the highway crosses the Norris Whitney Bridge over the Bay of Quinte). From Highway 401 to just south of the Canadian National Railways overpass, 62 follows North Front Street. There, the main route becomes Pinnacle Street, following it across the Sagonaska Bridge and through downtown. 62 then turns right at Dundas Street (old Highway 2), and continues to Bay Bridge Drive, where the highway heads south into 'the County'.

Highway 37/Cannifton Road Parkway

Highway 37 runs from the northern city limit with Tweed south to the 401, where it is co-designated as Cannifton Road Parkway until it meets Station Street. There, it follows Station Street west to its terminus at Pinnacle Street downtown.

Dundas Street/Highway 2

Running across southern Belleville, Dundas Street is a four-lane highway from where it enters Belleville's west end at Wallbridge-Loyalist Road to Point Anne Road, approximately 11 km east. Highway 2 originally crossed the Moira River at the Lower Bridge, co-designated with Bridge Street, but when Dundas Street finally crossed the Moira in the early 1970's, the old route was forgotten, although it is still signed as Highway 2.

According to www.thekingshighway.ca, of note is the eastern stretch of Dundas Street where, as Highway 2, it was rebuilt in the late 1930s as a dual highway, to the same standards of the concurrently built Queen Elizabeth Way. Part of a period of freeway design experimentation in Ontario, it wasn't upgraded in the same manner as the QEW, as Highway 2 was supplanted by the new 401 as the major transportation corridor along Lake Ontario.

Climate

Belleville's climate has four distinctive seasons. The summer season has comfortable temperatures and modest rainfall. The winter season is not exceedingly cold and the average snowfall is lower than in many other parts of Canada and north-east United States. The City's traditional continental climate (hot summers, cold winters) is moderated somewhat by its location near the Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario. The lakes moderates temperature extremes, cooling hot summer days and warming cold days during the fall and winter. 

• Mean Daily Temperature - Annually = 7.5 °C (45.5 °F)
• Mean Maximum Highest Temperature - Summer = 26.5 °C (79.7 °F)
• Mean Minimum Lowest Temperature - Winter = −11.9 °C (10.6 °F)
• Growing Degree-Days = 2236
• Growing Season = 190-200 days
• Mean Annual Precipitation = 85 cm (33.5 in)
• Mean Annual Snow Fall = 151 cm (59.5 in)
• Average Number of Days with Precipitation = 141 days
• Average Number of Days with Snowfall = 42 days
• Average Number of Days with max. temperature > 0°C (32°F) = 304 days

Economy

Procter & Gamble, Kellogg's, Lipton, Wilson Sports, Sears and Nortel are among the internationally known companies with industrial operations in Belleville. The central Canadian Forces Post Office (CFPO) is located here. As this post office is the gateway between the civilian and military postal systems of Canada, Belleville serves as the mailing address for Canadian Armed Forces Bases and Ships abroad. Automotive supplier Magna International operates its exterior lighting division, Autosystems, with three manufacturing plants as well as its headquarters and engineering center in Plant Three on Jamison Bone Road (named after the famous Canadian war hero).

Many other companies in the manufacturing sector formerly operated plants in Belleville, including Mead Johnson, Westwood-Squibb, Union Carbide, Stewart Warner, Corbin Lock, American Optical, Bioniche Life Sciences, Bakelite and Deacon Brothers. Prior to the Nortel downturn there was a large workforce of skilled workers at two of its plants, formerly known as Northern Telecom and prior to that, Northern Electric. Federal Signal remains one of Belleville's largest employers manufacturing Air Raid and Tornado Sirens for the North American and Western European market. Belleville is home to 2 shopping malls: The Bay View Mall in east-end Belleville and the Quinte Mall along Highway 401 in North Belleville.

Demographics

The city of Belleville, with the amalgamation of the Township of Thurlow, and the annexation of a portion of the City of Quinte West, had a population of 48,821 people in the Canada 2006 Census. Belleville is the largest urban centre in a much larger market area generally known as the Quinte Region. The city's census agglomeration had a population of 91,518 in the 2006 census.

Population trend:

• Population in 2006: 48,821
  • 2001 to 2006 population change: 6.1 %
• Population in 2001: 45,986 (or 46,029 when adjusted to 2006 boundaries)
• Population in 1996:
  • Belleville (city): 37,083
  • Thurlow (township): 7,986
• Population in 1991:
  • Belleville (city): 37,243
  • Thurlow (township): 7,615

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 20,495 (total dwellings: 21,239)

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 90.8 %
• French as first language: 1.5 %
• English and French as first language: 0.2 %
• Other as first language: 7.5 %

Education

Belleville offers a number of options at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels.

 Post-secondary

Loyalist College is the local public college.

 Public schools

The Public school system is served by the Hastings & Prince Edward District School Board.