Belmont, Indiana


Belmont is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Brown County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.

History

Belmont was originally the settlement of the Shakers, who quickly died out. However, they left the bell from their church. The bell went with the land in the government auction. The bell remained until 1920 by that time the name Belmont had become official.
A post office was established at Belmont in 1884, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1916.
In 1907 Hoosier Group artist T. C. Steele and his wife, Selma Neubacher Steele, moved into newly built studio and home on of hilltop land one and a half miles south of Belmont. They named their summer retreat the House of the Singing Winds; it became their year-round residence in 1912. After purchasing additional acreage in 1911 to increase their Brown County property to of land, they made further improvements that included an enlarged home surrounded by expansive gardens, a large studio-gallery, and several other outbuildings. In July 1945 Selma donated the entire property and more than 300 of her husband's paintings to the Indiana Department of Conservation to preserve it as the T. C. Steele State Historic Site. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The T. C. Steele Memorial Cemetery, which is also in the state historic site near Belmont, includes the graves of T. C. and Selma Steele.
John Mellencamp owns a recording studio in Belmont called Belmont Mall.

Geography

Belmont is located at. The hamlet is located on State Road 46, halfway between Nashville and Bloomington in west-central Brown County.