Belo | |
Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
Pushpin Map: | USA West Virginia |
Pushpin Label Position: | left |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of West Virginia |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | United States |
Subdivision Type1: | State |
Subdivision Name1: | West Virginia |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Mingo |
Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Population As Of: | 2000 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
Utc Offset: | -5 |
Timezone Dst: | EDT |
Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
Elevation Ft: | 663 |
Coordinates: | 37.7742°N -82.2375°W |
Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes |
Blank Name: | FIPS code |
Blank Info: | 1553854 |
Belo is an unincorporated community located in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. Its post office is closed.
The community derives its name from one of its local businessmen, E.E. Dempsey. Mr. Dempsey owned a General Mercantile store in the community in the 1930s when the first post office in the community was being created by the Federal Government. Dempsey's wife, Lummie Vernatter Dempsey, was named as the first post-mistress. The Postal Service told Mrs. Dempsey she would need to come up with a name for the community for the post office to be certified. After trying to come up with a name Mrs. Dempsey told her husband she didn't know what to call it. He proceeded to suggest to her that since the community was "below Myrtle, below Lenore, below, Logan and below Charleston, it should be simply called "Below". The "w" was dropped when the paperwork was filed and hence the community officially became "Belo". Mr. Dempsey is generally credited with naming the community.