Despite the description of the area as the "Great American Desert" by General Stephen Long in 1823, many believed the stories of the railroad executives and cowboys and believed Kansas offered abundant rich new land at a price the poorest could afford. So, they came from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and New York as well as Canada, Scotland, Germany and England. They came by covered wagon, on horseback, and on foot. Many brought only what they could carry on their backs or in covered wagons and settled the area that would become Paradise Valley and Belle Plaine, the oldest existing city in Sumner County. Although three other town sights were laid out before Belle Plaine, they did not survive and dropped into obscurity.

On July 5, 1870, the Alexander Clewell family with six children, G.C. Walton family with nine other Waltons, T.L. Cambridge family with seven children, J.B. Leforce, Sr. family with six children, J.B. Leforce family and William Leforce family with one child arrived. They spent their first winter in Wichita. All of the families except for Alexander Clewell moved on when they heard of richer land to the south. Alexander settled one mile north and two miles west of Belle Plaine where their descendants still live and farm the land.

It was not until July 13, 1870 when the Osage tribes made a treaty with the United States Government and ceded their reserve to the government that an increased number of settlers started to arrive. The North family was among those settlers. The Lawless, Phipps, and Griffith families from Kentucky, the Alter family from Pennsylvania and Wallace family from Illinois arrived in 1871, early 1872. It was at the request of Olive North the town be named after her hometown of Belle Plaine, Iowa. There is another interesting version of how Belle Plaine was named in the book, "Facts and Fables of Belle Plaine". The Belle Plaine Public Library has a copy of the book or you can buy a copy from the Belle Plaine Historical/Genealogical Society.

The Belle Plaine Town Company was founded in January 1, 1871 and purchased land located on Section 35, Township 30, Range 1, east for $1.25 an acre. A total of 319.99 acres were purchased for $399.99. The town company consisted of George A. and James L. Hamilton, Jasper L. Kellogg, William P. Hackney, E.M. Miller, William and Thomas J. Barton, John Lewis, William R.C. Chamberlain, and J.C. Thurman.

The original boundaries, plotted in 1883, were 7^th Avenue on the North, 1^st Avenue on the South, Line Street on the West and Logan on the East. On March 20, 1884, the "Petition for the Incorporation of Belle Plaine as a City of the Third Class" was signed. The local newspaper at the time reported a census of 1,000. The census now is around 1,700. The first building was built for J.C. Thurman. James Hamilton started the first business on February 25.

In the early days, Belle Plaine had a flourmill, one grain elevator, a newspaper, two large hotels, one bank, three churches, a grade school, a stagecoach stop, carriage factory, blacksmith shop and two brick factories. At one time, there were two banks, two newspapers, a sawmill, opera house, and roller skating rink. Just north of town was a dance hall called the Green Frog. Three railroads serviced Belle Plaine at one time: AT&S on the west edge of town, Missouri-Pacific on the south edge and the Midland Valley on the east.

In 1910, Dr. Bartlett established Bartlett’s Park, now called Bartlett’s Arboretum. The Arboretum is now owned and run by Robin Macy. Special events are schedule throughout the year at the Arboretum.

Belle Plaine has an industrial park, a central printing plant for several community newspapers, restaurants and other businesses, and an excellent school system that attracts many families who wish to live in a small community. It is the home of the Miss Arkansas Valley Organization and Tulip Time.

The Belle Plaine Historical/Genealogical Society was founded in 1998. It is in the process of establishing a museum in Belle Plaine, updating the "Facts and Fables of Belle Plaine" book and collecting artifacts and pictures from the early days.

There are many interesting stories about the early settlers and Belle Plaine such as "Black Friday", how the town got its name, and the fight for the Sumner County seat which can be found in the following three books: Old West Justice in Belle Plaine", by Tom Coke, "Facts and Fables of Belle Plaine, KS" and "Belle Plaine: A Century of Memories 1884-1984". The first book can be purchased from the Belle Plaine Historical Society. All three books are available at the Belle Plaine Public Library. Information for this article came from these three sources.