La Belle is a city in western Lewis County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States. The population was 664 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

A post office called La Belle has been in operation since 1856. The first permanent settlement at La Belle was made in 1857, and the town site

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1871. La Belle is derived from the French meaning "the beautiful", and the settlement was so named from its scenic setting. The city of La Belle was incorporated in 1872, although it had been a village and stage coach stop much earlier.

Geography

Missouri Highway 6 (State Street) through La Belle Missouri La Belle is located at (40.115624, -91.915919). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land. La Belle is located on

Missouri Route 6 Route 6 is a state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. It travels from I-29 Bus./ US 169 in St. Joseph to US 24/ US 61 about west of Quincy, Illinois. The highway serves as a major east-west corridor ...

, which is collinear with State Street throughout much of the city.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 660 people, 277 households, and 149 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 351 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 5.6%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, and 1.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.1% of the population. There were 277 households, of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.2% were non-families. 42.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 3.03. The median age in the city was 43.3 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.2% were from 25 to 44; 26.4% were from 45 to 64; and 22.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.8% male and 50.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 669 people, 282 households, and 159 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 338 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.08%

, 5.83%

, 0.15%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.05% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.79% of the population. There were 282 households, out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were

living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.3% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.89. In the city the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 24.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $21,477, and the median income for a family was $24,000. Males had a median income of $26,917 versus $16,136 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $12,424. About 21.2% of families and 28.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 37.5% of those under age 18 and 25.0% of those age 65 or over.

Recreation

La Belle has a city park (Johnson Park) located at the intersection of Wood and Main Street. A baseball field is located on the west end of town, off Highway 6. It hosts summer games for several leagues. During hunting seasons many hunters come to La Belle and the surrounding area to hunt white-tail deer and turkey. The Missouri Department of Conservation operates a lake south of La Belle. This lake served as a drinking water reservoir for the city of La Belle from 1980 through 2003. There has been a branch public library in La Belle since 1935. It became part of the Northeast Missouri Library Service in 1964.

Education

Public education in La Belle is administered by

Lewis County C-1 School District Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

. Students from La Belle attend Highland Elementary School and Highland Junior-Senior High School in

Ewing Ewing may refer to: People * Ewing (surname) * Ewing (given name) Places ;United States * Ewing Township, Boone County, Arkansas * Ewing, Illinois, a village * Ewing Township, Franklin County, Illinois * Ewing, Indiana, an unincorporated com ...

. La Belle has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, the Labelle Branch Library.

References

External links

* Historic maps of La Belle in th
Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection
at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

{{authority control Cities in Lewis County, Missouri Quincy, Illinois micropolitan area Cities in Missouri