Founded in 1815 by a small group of settlers from New York, Bellevue was originally settled on what is now Main Street and named Amsden Corners. In the early the town was built up of blacksmiths, wagon shops and cabinet shops, a flour mill and distillery, followed by a tannery.
A man named James H. Bell, in the mid 1830’s, built a large railroad station and proceeded to name the new station “Bellevue”. By 1836 the post office name was changed to Bellevue. In 1852 Bellevue became a link in new railroad line that connected New York to Chicago, followed by several other lines, all of which helped bolster the population of the growing city.