Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Bellevue, IA

Bellevue was founded on July 2, 1836 by John D. Bell, who laid out the town and became its first postmaster; its name evolved from Bell View to Belle Vue to Bellevue, honoring Bell and the French words for 'beautiful view.'

Bellevue is one of the five oldest cities in Iowa and the oldest city in Jackson County.

Bellevue was incorporated on February 5, 1851, and in 1837 it was named the seat of justice for Jackson, Jones and Linn counties, before Iowa was even a state.

The city sits on the Mississippi River at Lock and Dam No. 12, next to Bellevue State Park, in a valley between two large bluffs at the southern edge of the Driftless Area, a region that escaped the glaciers.

The 2020 census counted 2,363 people in Bellevue, up from 2,191 in 2010 — making it the second-largest city in Jackson County and the only one in the county that is growing.

Bellevue had 1,011 households in the 2020 census.

The Bellevue War of April 1, 1840 — a shootout at Brown's Hotel between Sheriff W. A. Warren's posse and the outlaw gang of W. W. Brown — gave the young river town a rough reputation that took years to shake.

Bellevue fought a decades-long county-seat battle with the town of Andrew between 1848 and 1876, and its 1845 Greek Revival courthouse now houses Bellevue Elementary School — the oldest functioning school building in Iowa.

Potter's Mill, a flour mill built in 1843, still stands in Bellevue and now operates as a restaurant and bed-and-breakfast.

Bellevue High School's teams are the Comets, competing in the River Valley Conference in blue and white, while the private Marquette Catholic School, established in 1957 and named for Father Jacques Marquette, serves students in grades K-12.