BELLAIRE, A Small
Town in Clay County
(This information comes from one of many folders about Clay County towns in
the Library files.)
Bellaire was a small town in Clay Co., Washington Township,
platted in Feb. 1852 by A. H. L. BAKER. It was located three miles south of
Bowling Green at the bend of the Eel River, at the mouth of Six Mile Creek,
near the bridge of the old Greencastle-Carlise Road.
Clay Co. was founded in 1825; the State Legislature noted the importance of
the Eel River as being navigable in 1829, when it instructed the trustees of
this county to clear the river of drifts. Many of our settlers had come up
the river by canoe, and shipping had been done below New Brunswick, where
there was a large drift.
In 1850, two events were occurring that caused the founding of Belliare. The
most important of these was the completion of the side cut of the Wabash
Erie Canal, which connected Bowling Green with Terre Haute by water…and the
second event was the general agitation for relocation of the county
seat from Bowling Green to another town. Many small towns were platted
(Jonesville, Ashborro, Anguilla, New Amsterdam, and others) including
Bellaire in the hopes of getting the county seat.
In May 1850, the first water from the Side Cut and reservoir came up to
Bowling Green with slack water up to Thomas Ferry. So delighted were the
people of Clay County, a group started out in a boat for Terre Haute but
were grounded. In the latter part of May a boat, “The Olens,” brought a
large group of Terre Haute people to Bowling Green, firing their cannon at
the Junction, the dam, Bellaire and at Bowling Green, where a large
celebration was held.
The opening of the canal stimulated business enterprise and commercial
activity. At Bowling Green, the head of slack-water navigation, the firm of
FULLER, MELTON and KENNEDY, composed of Jesse FULLER, John M. MELTON, and
Joseph KENNEDY, built a large warehouse on the east side of the Eel River,
just below the present Bowling Green bridge and a canal boat, “Belle of
Bowling Green,” which was run by John EGRET. The first of many shipments of
grain to Lafayette and to Toledo was made in August 1850. Because of the Eel
River’s current a towboat, “Bull of the Woods,” was built to pull boats to
Bowling Green. In 1850 a company was formed by Oliver CROMWELL to build a
steamboat, but this was never done. FULLER, MELTON, and KENNEDY went out of
business and later their warehouse was converted to the Stucky Brewery. John
W. ECRET and John MELTON continued the shipping of grain on their boat, “The
Ohio,” which they owned until 1861. This was the last boat to come into
Bowling Green.
Thus, the bend of the river was a more logical place for a shipping point
and Mr. A. H. L. BAKER with visions a commercial center and resort, platted
Bellaire in February 1852. He named it after his birthplace, Bellaire,
Hartford County, Maryland. To substantiate his dreams, he erected a large
warehouse and a commodious hotel with many rooms and numerous outlooks;
this, however, was never finished. The history books are sketchy, but it
does state that Belliare had good mercantile trade, stores and shops, a post
office, plus a Methodist Church and a school. Mr. BAKER engaged in shipping
and warehousing grain and owned the boat “Eight O’s”. Regular shipping was
also carried on James MUSHETT, operating out of Bellaire the “Julia Dean”
boat.
A highly influential man, Lewis ROW, who lived across the line in Owen
County, succeeded Mr. Baker in business. Mr. ROW shipped grain for quite a
few years. Another firm Goshorn and Co. located at Bellaire in 1857; a
second warehouse was built and grain was shipped until 1865.
With the canal being abandoned, the unrest during the Civil War and the
almost certainty of agitation for Brazil to become the county seat, Bellaire
just became a crossroad. There are now no marks remaining on the site to
indicate that Bellaire ever existed. Wm. Travis stated in his A History of
Clay County Indiana, 1909: “At the angle, or bend, of the stream a half mile
above the Rhodes Bluff, at the mouth of Six Mile, a part of the ground on
which stood the town of Bellaire is now swept by the flow of the stream. It
may be truthfully said that grounds are now being cultivated or pastured
along the course of Eel river which, at a former time, were so utilized on
the opposite side.” (Page 80)
Of the three names we find in the history connected with Bellaire, Mr. BAKER
was a schoolteacher in Bowling Green at some time. Mr. Lewis ROW, born in
Pennsylvania, was a hardworking farmer, and after leaving his business in
Bellaire was elected to the State Legislature in 1853. Mr. Nicolas GOSHORN
later moved to Clay City.