Belton History

George W. Scott and William H. Colbern purchased about 80 acres of land on August 13, 1869 from Manzey Q. Ashby of Kentucky who had received it a month earlier from the U.S. Government. Scott and Colbern filed a plat for the 80 acres in December 1871, and called the new town Belton. Belton was incorporated in 1872. It was named for a close friend of Scott's, Capt. Marcus Lindsey Belt, who helped Scott survey the land. The two had served in the Civil War together. Belton and its environs were settled largely by families from Kentucky.