Going into this adventure I knew I would come to places that had not much to the town. Bellechester is one of those towns. It is a little town (of about 200) right on the Goodhue and Wabasha County line where County 16 meets Goodhue County 2/Wabasha County 7. I did not even see a “Bellechester” sign, so I got a photo with the Community Center. If you look at their website they list “attractions” and it tells you about Bellechester’s proximity to Rochester, Red Wing, and the Twin Cities. Honestly, I think that is what the town has going for it.
The day we went to visit Bellechester was a beautiful day in the low 30’s. In next door Mazeppa they have the snowtubing at steeplechase and we kept driving through Bellechester to get to Frontenac State Park. I was trying to look on maps or online to see if there was a place to eat in Bellechester since we were passing through around lunch time, but I saw none. We ate before we left home and once, we were in Bellechester we noticed a sign for a Tavern. They have a Feed and Supply shop along with a mechanic. My children noticed there was no park and called the town “boring.”
One thing that I am trying to do in every town is to try and find something about the town that makes it special. I believe every person and town has a place and purpose. Some purposes might be big and grandiose, and some might be simple and plain from the outside. What I see in Bellechester is a nice small community town. We saw neighbors out talking with one another and an agricultural community. They also have a beautiful church on the hill, St. Mary’s Church. It’s picturesque and seems like a classic type of architecture I’ve seen around Southern Minnesota. This town might not be for everyone, but I think as their site says it is “A Great Place to Live.”
Home | City of Bellechester Minnesota (bellechestermn.com)
History
Bellechester was founded in 1877. The name “Chester” comes from being in the Chester township. Chester is a popular name in the United States as it has roots from a city and county from England. The moniker Belle comes from the word for beautiful in French. There is Belle Creek nearby that was named for that. My kids thought there should be a lot of bells in the town and kept looking for them. They were disappointed, and ready to go on to the next town!
