Belmont, NY

Belmont is the village and county seat of Allegany County, on the Genesee River in the Town of Amity. The 2020 census counted 856 residents. The village began as Philipsburg in 1833, named for early settler Philip Church, and was incorporated in 1853 as Philipsville. In 1857, a campaign moved the county seat here from Angelica because Belmont was more central and close to the New York and Erie Railroad depot. The name Belmont eventually stayed, and the county seat remains here.

The Genesee River splits the village, while Routes 19 and 244, County Road 48, and the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad tie the two sides together. The courthouse looks over the river, and the village has businesses, a school, and the Fountain Arts Center. Belmont’s role is practical and historic at once: a small river village whose position on roads and rail made it the county’s government center, then kept it connected to the towns and farms of western New York.