Belvidere () is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Illinois, United States. It is settled on the Kishwaukee River in far northern Illinois. The population was 25,339 at the 2020 census. Belvidere is part of the Rockford metropolitan area.
Known as the "City of Murals", Belvidere is home to several public art installations throughout the North and South State Street historic districts, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. These historic districts are home to the Boone County Museum of History, the Funderburg House Museum, several restaurants and bars, and antique and boutique stores. Popular festivities like Heritage Days are held yearly.
History
Before the arrival of the mostly Anglo-Americans in the 19th century, this area was long occupied by the Illinois Confederation, a loose grouping of up to 12 to 15 Native American tribes. The main tribes were the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaroa. After trading, warfare and other encounters with French traders, who entered this area before the Anglo-Americans, their numbers declined. In large part due to the high mortality from new infectious diseases, which adversely affected Native Americans across the continent.
The area developed as Belvidere was first settled by European Americans in 1835: Simon P. Doty and Daniel Hilton Whitney. They named this location next to the Kishwaukee River as "Elysian Fields" from Greek mythology. Because new residents could not pronounce or spell the proposed name, the city was eventually renamed after Belvidere, Virginia, the former home of Ebenezer Polk, a railroad lawyer and major financial founder in the city.
Belvidere originally developed on the north side of the Kishwaukee River. In 1851 the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was built south of the river, stimulating the relocation of much of the business section to the south side of the river, giving access to railway transportation. Belvidere's downtown is now on the south side.
Major industries developed along the river and railroad, including the National Sewing Machine Company, which operated here from 1886 to the 1940s. In 1906, former female sheriff Sarah Ames moved to South Dakota; she named the area where she settled after her home town. Belvidere, South Dakota still operates as a small town in Jackson County.
1967 tornado
On April 21, 1967, a devastating tornado struck Belvidere. Twenty-four people died as a result, many of them schoolchildren. The F4 tornado struck at the end of the school day of Belvidere High School, when many children, including those who attended area grade schools, were waiting outside the high school for school buses. Of the sixteen school buses outside the high school, twelve were overturned or thrown by the tornado. The tornado did $22 million in damage, demolished over 100 homes, and injured 500 people. In 2007 a statue was erected in front of Belvidere High School in memorial of the lives lost.
As of 2013, the Belvidere tornado was the sixth worst weather disaster to happen at an American school, and the deadliest since 1955.
2009 explosion On December 7, 2009, an explosion occurred at an NDK America building, when a large pressure vessel ruptured during a crystal-growing process. Pieces of debris, some weighing several tons, were flung over a wide area. One piece struck an automotive supply building and injured an employee inside. Chesterfield, Indiana native Ronald Greenfield, a truck driver refueling at the nearby Belvidere Oasis truck stop, was struck and killed by a 7-foot support beam. The shockwave was felt over a wide area. No NDK employees were injured in the incident.
The Chemical Safety Board investigated the incident, issuing their final report in 2013. The CSB found that stress corrosion cracking had occurred, unnoticed, in one of the crystal-growing autoclaves, leading to the catastrophic failure. They also found that NDK management had been warned multiple times over the years that the dangerous levels of hot sodium hydroxide inside the vessels would corrode the steel walls. However, NDK management insisted buildup of byproducts from the crystal-growing process would passivate the vessel walls against the corrosion. Furthermore, during the factory's construction, the local government had been made aware that NDK's crystal-growing vessels were in violation of several state codes; when confronted, NDK had persuaded them to grant a special exception, and to hitherto allow them to conduct their own onsite inspections without outside interference. However, the vessel that ruptured had never been internally inspected to test the passivation theory, during its many years of service. After a smaller leak occurred in January 2007, NDK was warned about safety concerns again, this time by insurance investigators, who were ultimately ignored. Finally, the CSB determined the method for growing crystals used at NDK's Belvidere facility was prohibitively dangerous in the first place, pointing out such methods had been already abandoned by other crystal-growing facilities in favor of safer, lower-pressure and lower temperature processes.
Following their own 2010 investigation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined NDK more than half a million dollars for willful disregard for legal requirements, and "unacceptable" indifference to safety and health. The NDK facility was demolished in 2015, with no plans to rebuild.
2023 tornado
On March 31, 2023, an EF1 tornado struck Belvidere. It caused the Apollo Theatre to collapse during a concert for the Floridian Death Metal band Morbid Angel and Brazilian Death Metal band Crypta. The concert proceeded despite advanced notice of severe conditions expected that day. The collapse led to over 40 injuries; leaving at least four in critical condition and one fatality.
Geography According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Belvidere has a total area of , of which (or 98.08%) is land and (or 1.92%) is water.
Located in north central Illinois, in a county on the northern border of the state, Belvidere is approximately northwest of the downtown of Chicago, and approximately east of Rockford.
Belvidere developed on both sides of the Kishwaukee River in north central Illinois. It is 76 miles from downtown Chicago via Routes 20, 76 and the Northern Illinois Toll road. Belvidere is an industrial community surrounded by prosperous farms. It is the county seat, with an estimated 2006 county population of over 52,000. The altitude is 800 feet above sea level, with average temperatures of: 73 degrees F in the summer; 24 degrees F in the winter, and the average rainfall is 33.3 inches, and the average annual snowfall is 35.3 inches.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Belvidere city, Illinois – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)16,06316,52714,29677.15%64.60%56.42%Black or African American alone (NH)2175997061.04%2.34%2.79%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)4335390.21%0.14%0.15%Asian alone (NH)892432590.43%0.95%1.02%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)3040.01%0.00%0.02%Other race alone (NH)1023860.05%0.09%0.34%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2163208501.04%1.25%3.35%Hispanic or Latino (any race)4,1797,8389,09920.07%30.64%35.91%Total20,82025,58525,339 100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Belvidere had a population of 25,339. The median age was 37.0 years. 25.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.4 males.
98.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 9,113 households and 5,891 families in the city; 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.0% were married-couple households, 18.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 9,609 housing units, of which 5.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.7%. The population density was and the housing unit density was .
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 15,650 61.8% Black or African American 759 3.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 374 1.5% Asian 276 1.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 17 0.1% Some other race 4,598 18.1% Two or more races 3,665 14.5%
Income
The median income for a household in the city was $52,609, and the median income for a family was $67,518. Males had a median income of $34,455 versus $27,676 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,330. About 8.9% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over. Economy Stellantis operates the Belvidere Assembly Plant, an auto assembly plant, which was constructed in the mid-1960s. The Belvidere plant manufactured the Dodge Neon until the spring of 2005. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the plant manufactured Chrysler Newports and Plymouth Furys. After a massive restructuring of the Belvidere plant, it is now one of the most modern auto assembly plants in the United States. It most recently assembled the Jeep Cherokee until February 2023, when the plant was idled indefinitely by Stellantis. As part of the settlement of the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, Stellantis agreed to reopen the plant in 2025, to construct a mid-size Ram pickup. An electric vehicle battery plant will also be constructed. The site was visited by US President Joe Biden and UAW President Shawn Fain.
Dean Foods and General Mills operate manufacturing plants on the bank of the Kishwaukee River. General Mills recently announced a large expansion in the area, soon to begin construction on a 1.3 million square foot distribution center in a newly annexed southwestern portion of the city.
On March 30th, 2022 Rock Valley College opened their new 9+ million dollar Advanced Technology Center in the northwestern portion of Belvidere, after competition among several area cities for the Advanced Technology Center.
"Project Yukon" is a cold storage facility announced by Walmart on 6/20/2023, which will be over 1.2 million square feet on 200 acres in the Southwest side of the city. This is expected to bring up to 700 jobs; as of 5/16/2026 construction is underway with a completion goal in 2027.
Culture Pettit Memorial Chapel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; the Lampert-Wildflower House, and the Belvidere Post Office, designed by James Knox Taylor, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Parks include Spencer Park, Belvidere Municipal Park, and the Boone County Fairgrounds. Belvidere is known as the "City of Murals", for its numerous murals.
Education
It is in the Belvidere Community Unit School District 100. - Text list Schools operated by the district include two high schools, Belvidere High School and Belvidere North High School, the Everest Alternative Program, two middle schools, Belvidere South Middle School and Belvidere Central Middle School, five elementary schools, Lincoln Elementary School, Perry Elementary School, Meehan Elementary School, Caledonia Elementary School, and Seth Whitman Elementary School, one STEM academy, Washington Academy.
Belvidere's public library, Ida Public Library, was founded in 1883. The current building, a Carnegie Library, was constructed in 1912 and opened in 1913. An addition was built in 1987. It includes adult and children services, a Local History and Genealogy Room, and Internet/computer access.