BELLAIRE HAS attracted persons of varied nationalities since that long-ago day in 1792 when the land on which the town was built was conveyed by a government grant to John Duer in 1792. Part of the land was later 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 and incorrect orthography, and custom adopted it. It was spelled Bellair, becoming one word, which is French and means "beautiful air." Later, the name was changed to Bellaire. The village of bellaire lies in the rich fertile valley of the Ohio, bounded on the east by the mighty river and on the west by beautiful rolling hills which have earned Eastern Ohio the title of "Switzerland of Ohio." It was the river, with its facilities for passenger and cargo traffic, which determined the location of the city in the beginning.