I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Belleville. I love it for all that it has to offer. I hate it for the sole reason that everyone here knows everything about everyone. That’s just me, I’m a bit reserved. Weird for a blogger right? Why wouldn’t I want to share every single detail about my life with my neighbor. Some things are just meant to be kept private. Even when I write, there are times when I like to leave people wondering.

Belleville is a small town in Wayne County, Michigan just 29 miles Southwest of Detroit. The city gets even smaller when you venture into the township of Sumpter (that’s where I live). Sumpter is as country as country gets. We have one liquor store, one gas station, and a hardware store. And you can’t enter any of them without running into someone you know. Every other house in this rural area has farm animals.

Originally starting as a village in 1905, the city itself hasn’t changed much throughout the years. But I’d say Belleville has matured a bit from a small town into a small city. People often confuse Belleville with Sumpter. Belleville is the city, Sumpter is its township. Now, it doesn’t get any smaller than Sumpter. But Belleville has definitely grown over the years. It’s kind of like having the best of both worlds or having your cake and eating it too. I get to live in the country and the city at the same time.

So I’m a boat gal. Part of that, I believe, is because Belleville sits on its own lake. I just love being on the water when the weather permits. Most of my summer days are spent on Belleville lake with friends. All summer long boats gather together at the sandbar to unwind and relax. We have one restaurant on the lake named Johnny’s on The Lake. The food is so good. Right next to Johnny’s we have a liquor store/gas station for you to fill up your boat and head back out onto the water.

On the other side of Johnny’s is the heart of Belleville. That’s where main street resides. Almost everything is on main street. This is where most of our tourists go when they visit us. On main street you’ll find things like car shows, bars, restaurants, our museum, the library, and more. Main street is also what separates Belleville and Sumpter. There’s a bridge that goes over the Lake that connects the two. Just past the bridge is where main street starts and the fun begins.

Belleville Bridge PIC: JJ

All of the schools in our district are fairly close to each other. Throughout grade school my friends and I would walk “uptown,” as we called it, almost every single day after school. We’d either walk to Frosty Boy and get ice cream or walk across the street to a park called Five Points and hang out. The actual name of the park is Victory Park, but it’s located right in the heart of the city where the five-point intersection lies (hence the name five points). I don’t think that there was a time while I was growing up that going uptown and hanging out didn’t exist. It’s almost like a tradition. Parents would even pick their kids up at uptown rather than at school.

Belleville – Johnny’s on The Lake PIC: JJ

Main street is also the place to be on any holiday or special occasion. Every occasion has its own unique event, such as the witches ball during Halloween. During the witches ball, the entire street is decorated for Halloween with lights, pumpkins, and scary music. It is almost like the kind of town you see on TV or the kind you read about in a novel. Personally, I often like to compare it to Rosewood from Pretty Little Liars.

Being one of the smaller cities in the U.S., there’s a lot of history in Belleville. But what makes it so interesting is the history we share with each other. We are a strong community. We take pride in ourselves and the work we have done to improve this city. We stand by each other through the good and the bad.

So if you’re looking for a community that truly cares about its environment and the people that inhabit it, this is definitely it!