Bellfountain is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Benton County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States. Bellfountain lies on Bellfountain Road north of

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and northwest of

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

. The population was 78 as of the 2023 census population estimates.

Demographics

Early history

Early on, the area around Bellfountain was known as ''Belknap's Settlement''. A post office was established in 1895 called ''Dusty''. The community's name was later changed to Bellfountain. It was said to be named for

Bellefontaine, Ohio Bellefontaine ( ) is a city in Logan County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located 48 miles (77 km) northwest of Columbus, the population was 14,115 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bellefontaine micropolit ...

. From 1902 to 1905, a Bellfountain post office existed. After 1905, local residents received their mail in

. Bellfountain has also been said to have been named for the bell fountain, a natural spring that bubbled up about 1 mile west of Bellfountain where Bellfountain Park is located. Flat rocks surrounding the natural artesian spring formed in the shape of a bell. People could view the bell fountain until sometime during the last 40 years when Benton County covered over the bell fountain with a cement building and a pump house to pump the water for use in the park. People are no longer able to view the bell fountain for which some people believe the town was named.

State Champion School

In 1937 the basketball team at Bellfountain High School won the Oregon state championship. At this time Kenneth Litchfield was principal and Burton "Bill" Lemmon was the coach. That was an era when all schools, large and small, were grouped together for playoff purposes. Bellfountain H.S. had a total of twenty-seven students, and their basketball team consisted of eight boys, none over 6 feet tall. After taking the Class B Championship they beat Portland's Franklin High School (a school of 2100 students) in the semi-finals, then competed in the finals against Portland's Lincoln High School. The Bells beat Lincoln by 14 points - their closest game of the season. The Bells boys basketball team also won the 1936 Class B State Championship. The original gymnasium for "Oregon's own Hoosiers" is still on the Bellfountain school grounds with a plaque commemorating the historic team.

State championships

*Boy's basketball: 1936 (Class B) , 1937 (Class B), 1937 (Class A/B)

Present-day Bellfountain

The local economy is centered on the farming of

Christmas trees A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was developed in Ce ...

and grass seed, and on logging. The people of Benton County have been using Bellfountain Park for over 100 years. The park has a large barbeque pit,

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

field, sand

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

court, horseshoe pits, and restrooms. There is also a covered picnic shelter with a kitchen area and one of the longest picnic tables in the world. The table seats 120 people"Welcome To Benton County's Bellfountain County Park"
, Benton County, Corvallis, Oregon, accessed 20 September 2015. and is long.

References

External links

Eugene Register-Guard

Bellfountain - Our Town
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Benton County, Oregon Census-designated places in Oregon 1895 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1895 Census-designated places in Benton County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon