Belle Plain is a populated place in Callahan County, Texas, United States. In 1875, a man named Nelson M. Smith purchased land on which he planned to build a college. He platted a townsite to accompany the new school, and though the origin of the town's unusual name is not completely clear, it has long been speculated that it was named after Katie Belle …Belle Plain is a populated place in Callahan County, Texas, United States. In 1875, a man named Nelson M. Smith purchased land on which he planned to build a college. He platted a townsite to accompany the new school, and though the origin of the town's unusual name is not completely clear, it has long been speculated that it was named after Katie Belle Magee, the first child born at the new town site. By the following year, the town had three businesses and an estimated population of about 65 residents. When Callahan County was organized in 1877, voters chose Belle Plain as the seat of government. The town's first newspaper was established in 1879, and by the mid-1880s Belle Plain had become a center of commerce and industry for the county with several businesses, Smith's small Belle Plain College, and a population of around 400.
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