Originally known as “Second River” or “Washington”, the inhabitants renamed the settlement “Belleville” in 1797. Belleville was originally incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1839, from portions of Bloomfield. Portions of the township were taken to create Woodside Township (March 24, 1869, now defunct) and Franklin Township (February 18, 1874, now known as Nutley). The independent municipality of Belleville city was created within the township on March 27, 1874, and was dissolved on February 22, 1876. On November 16, 1910, Belleville was reincorporated as a town, based on the results of a referendum held eight days earlier. Belleville adopted its current township form of government in 1981.
Frankie Valli and the band The Four Seasons formed in Belleville.
