Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/65

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BELLE, Lane County. Belle post office was established at the main forks of Indian Creek in western Lane County on August 25, 1906, with Daisy Belle Wilkinson first and only postmaster. The office was closed August 31, 1908. Belle post office of 1906 was in the same locality as Hermann post office when that office was first established in 1889. In January, 1947, Smith L. Taylor of McKenzie Bridge, formerly a resident of western Lane County, informed the compiler that Belle post office was named with the postmaster's middle name.

BELLE Passi, Marion County. This is one of Oregon's ghost towns, situated about a mile south of Woodburn. The name came before the public in February, 1942, as the result of the erection of an historical marker by members of Belle Passi chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Woodburn. The marker is on the Pacific Highway East, and commemorates the establishment of a pioneer community that eventually succumbed probably because of the development of Woodburn, which had the advantage of railroad service. The Rev. Neill Johnson located at the place about 1851. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination, and he soon built a church and later a school. In 1857 a contract was let to carry mail by stage from Portland to Sacramento, and this furnished an opportunity for a post office. Johnson suggested the name Groveland for a place in Illinois, but authorities objected because the name was too common. The Oregon Historical Society has a letter written by John L. Johnson, son of Neill Johnson, in which it is said that Johnson then recommended a name he had found, possibly in Humboldt's Cosmos, describing a place in Italy. J. L. Johnson gives this as Bell Passi, meaning good pass or beautiful place. Now the place in Italy, which is on the island of Sicily, is Belpasso. The post office in Marion County was officially Belpassi. The younger Johnson calls it Bell Passi and the marker uses the spelling Belle Passi. This selection of styles seems reasonably ample. Postal authorities inform the compiler that the post office at Belpassi was established on June 15, 1860. The name was changed to Gervais on November 6, 1871.

BELLE VUE POINT, Multnomah County. This point is on the east shore of Sauvie Island and the west bank of Columbia River, just north of the mouth of Willamette River. The name Belle Vue Point was adopted for this feature by USBGN on February 7, 1934. Belle Vue Point was named by Lt. W. R. Broughton, R.N., of the Vancouver expedition, on October 29, 1792. It seems certain that at that time the arrangement of islands and channels at the mouth of Willamette River differed from the condition that now exists. About 1930 Mr. J. Neilson Barry of Portland made an extensive study of the problem and it was his conclusion that the locality that now bears the name Belle Vue Point was the proper place. Federal agencies accepted his recommendations.

BELLEVUE, Yamhill County. This community is on the Salmon River Highway about nine miles southwest of McMinnville. The name is descriptive but the compiler does not know who applied it. The place is on the Hathaway Yocum donation land claim. Yocum came to Oregon in 1851 from Illinois. Records at the Oregon Historical Society indicate that Bellevue was settled about 1860. Muddy post office was established in this locality in May, 1855, with George Davis postmaster. It may have been on Muddy Creek a little northeast of Bellevue. The name was changed to Bellevue in April, 1869. The records do not indicate exactly