Belo, West Virginia Explained

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.