Belle, West Virginia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Belle, West Virginia
settlement_type = Town
nickname =
motto =

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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location of Belle, West Virginia


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = West Virginia
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Kanawha

government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
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established_date =

area_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 2.0
area_land_km2 = 1.8
area_water_km2 = 0.2
area_total_sq_mi = 0.8
area_land_sq_mi = 0.7
area_water_sq_mi = 0.1

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 1259
population_density_km2 = 681.9
population_density_sq_mi = 1766.2

timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 183
elevation_ft = 600
latd = 38 |latm = 14 |lats = 2 |latNS = N
longd = 81 |longm = 32 |longs = 30 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 25015
area_code = 304
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 54-05836GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1553846GR|3
website =
footnotes =

Belle is a town in Kanawha County, West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. The population was 1,259 at the 2000 census. Belle was incorporated on December 13, 1958 by the Kanawha County Circuit Court. It is the home of the Belle Bulldogs Elementary School.

Geography

Belle is located at coor dms|38|14|2|N|81|32|30|W|city (38.233853, -81.541606)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²). 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (8.86%) is water.

The water around Belle is said to be severely polluted by the chemical company DuPont, which operates a chemical plant there. According to Scorecard, a pollution watchdog site, water releases of chemicals from the DuPont Belle facility increased by 385% from 1988 to 2002. Air releases decreased by 94.3% during the same interval. [http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/facility.tcl?tri_id=25015DPNTB901WE#facility_info Scorecard]

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 1,259 people, 569 households, and 364 families residing in the town. The population density was 684.7/km² (1,766.2/mi²). There were 647 housing units at an average density of 351.8/km² (907.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.31% White, 0.87% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.87% from other races, and 2.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.

There were 569 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.8% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $34,118, and the median income for a family was $43,203. Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $22,969 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,636. About 8.6% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

Famous people from Belle

*Jason Williams, NBA player

References

External links