Economic Development, Planning and Zoning Department News

Barry I. Matherly, President and CEO of Hickey Global presented the final draft of the Economic Development Strategic Plan to the Economic Development and Annexation Committee on December 6, 2023. Barry shared this picture and the following story that brought home the care and diligence of one of our Belleville Businesses:

“My son-in-law is in the Army. We always say, we go to see my daughter and him, although now we go to see my new granddaughter. This is the real reason we are spending six times more time in travelling far to visit them, than we used to. This Fall I thought it would help them, due to being under stress as new parents, for me to mow the yard. I went into his shed to get the lawnmower, and these boots were the first thing I saw on the shelf. A pair of Belleville Boots, from the Belleville Boot Company! I thought this was interesting. Their tag line is, “The Belleville Difference”. I felt that was very appropriate, at least in my son-in-law’s life. I asked him about it, as he works in nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare. There are specialty boots made for every military field out there. It was nice to see a connection to Belleville, even from so far away. The effects from Belleville, not only from Belleville companies, but from the Belleville people make a difference, not only in this community but even in communities far away.”

Barry I. Matherly, CEcD, FM, HLM
President & CEO, Hickey Global

History of the Belleville Fire Department

Part 1: From Bucket Brigades to Local Union 53

The fire protection of Belleville can be traced back to the founding of the city in 1814 with community bucket brigades to guard against the ravages of fire. At the time Belleville was little more than a village crossroads. At the cry of “Fire” citizens would gather and form a human chain passing buckets from a well or cistern to the fire, working feverishly to protect their homes and businesses for common welfare.

Thanks in large part to an influx of German immigrants to the area the town of Belleville began to grow. By the mid-nineteenth century Belleville saw tremendous growth as mining, rail transportation, and eventually industry sprang up. Brewing, brick making, and stove production were forces that drove Belleville to even more expansion.

By 1841 several influential citizens, Gustav Koerner, William McClintock, and Lyman Trumbull saw the need for a more reliable and organized fire fighting force. These citizens founded the first volunteer fire department, the Union Fire Company, at 14 South Jackson Street. Koerner himself purchased the city’s first fire apparatus. Shortly following the Civil War, the department consisted of three volunteer companies: St. Clair Fire Company, located at North Illinois Street and East A Street; the Union Fire Company at 14 South Jackson Street; and the South Belleville Fire Company at the junction of South Charles Street and Freeburg Road. The town of West Belleville, located on the western side of Richland Creek, was independent of Belleville and had its own fire company. The West Belleville Fire Company was located at West “A” Street and North 12^th Street. These companies were equipped with money raised through subscriptions and fundraising. By the mid 1870’s the city had also installed a network of 21 fire and police alarm boxes throughout the city.

Following the Civil War, due to huge expansion in population and business, the demands placed on the fire department increased. The volunteer department was being outpaced. In 1878 the City council voted to establish a paid fire department.   With the dissolution of the volunteer system, the fire department consisted of Engine 1 and Hook and Ladder 1 on South Jackson, Engine 2 at East A and North Illinois and Engine 3 on North 12^th Street.  

By 1916 the city’s full time career fire fighting force was in place. It consisted of Engines 1 and 2 and Hook and Ladder 1 protecting Belleville proper, the former West Belleville, the Rock Road (West Main Street to Signal Hill) and the Village of New Swansea to the north. That same year the city purchased the department’s first motorized apparatus, beginning the modernization of the fleet. In 1918, the city’s fire fighters unionized as Local 53 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a founding local of the union.