Capt. James Moore Farmstead - Waterloo, IL - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

County of house: Monroe County
Location of house: Church St., Waterloo

"James Moore and many of the settlers that followed him had been soldiers in George Rogers Clark's Illinois campaign of 1778. They named their settlement Bellefontaine, meaning 'beautiful spring.' This name related to a spring of water a mile south of the present-day site of Waterloo, a frequent campsite on journeys between Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and St. Louis. The first documented English-speakers came, in the spring of 1782, when James Moore, Larken Rutherford, and James Garretson, of Maryland and Virginia, settled at or near Bellefontaine. Upon their arrival, they were the first permanent English-speakers, in the entire Northwest Territory. Moore established himself at the site of the namesake spring, and the tract remained in possession of the Moore family for over a century. The kitchen of the Bellefontaine House, situated a short distance west of the southern end of Main Street, is believed to be Moore's original log cabin. It was restored and remains as a local landmark." ~ Revolvey

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"The history of Waterloo dates back to the late 18th century when Captain James Moore, a member of George Rogers Clark’s expedition into the Illinois Country in 1778, led his family and a party of 4 other families from Virginia into the region. In the spring of 1782, Moore and his party settled just south of present day Waterloo at a place the French called La Belle Fontaine because of the beautiful spring there. The community of Bellefontaine, the first American settlement in the state of Illinois, grew up around the fort Moore built at the spring as protection from attacks by Native Americans" ~ The Great River Road

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Historic marker moved to now on site:
Marker erected by: The Monroe County Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society
Date marker erected: 1976

Marker text:

BELLEFONTAINE Bellefontaine was one of the first settlements made by Americans in what is now Illinois. The earliest settlers included families of Revolutionary War veterans who had served with George Rogers Clark. Captain James Moore brought a band of pioneers from Virginia and Maryland in the winter of 1781-1782. The settlement took its name from a nearby spring the French called 'La Belle Fontaine' (beautiful spring). By the 1800's it was the third largest community in the Illinois Territory.

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