THE GREAT Stone Viaduct, shown along with part of the village’s business district, was completed in 1870 and is a National Historic Monument.

BELLAIRE, which is known as the All-American City, has attracted persons of varied nationalities since that long-ago day in 1792 when the land on which the town is built was conveyed by a government grant to John Duer in 1792.

Part of the land later was purchased by Jacob Davis, who named the town. Davis, according to the “History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties” by J.A. Caldwell, named the town in honor “of his native town in Maryland, Bell Air, but the word had undergone an incorrect orthography, and custom adopted it, and it was spelled Bellair — making one word. Bellair is a French word, signifying ‘beautiful air.’”

Later, the name was changed to Bellaire.

Although Bellaire grew into a city, it reverted to village status in 2001.