The building was unoccupied for some time after that and fell into a bad state of repair. On June 10, 1970 a bulldozer attacked it and soon had it leveled to the ground.
   It might be noted here that the first hotel in Bellwood was called the Dale Hotel which stood on the site of the present bank building in block 3. That building was moved and remodeled into a home. It now stands on the southeast part of block 17 and is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Oborny.

     The 88-year-old Bellwood Hotel on the day the bulldozer leveled it in 1970.

   This oil painting was done in 1945 by the prominent Nebraska artist Terence Duren. He aptly titled it 'The Old Opera House.' It was the main assembly hall in the early years of Bellwood. It was used frequently for meetings and gatherings and a number of fairly prominent entertainers and actors appeared on its stage.

   Actually, only the second floor was used for gatherings. All of the first floor was the Bell General Store. J. D. Bell, Sr. had the building constructed. It was completed, in September 1881.

   It was located at the north end of the east side of the main business street (Esplanade). It was purchased by the Consumers Co-op Oil Co. and was razed to make room for the present service station.

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   Long ago someone said a home is a man's castle. In the song, the writer expressed the sentiment of us all, "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home".
   Of the 175 homes in Bellwood 90 are old homes, 50 are new or extensively remodeled. Except for a few vacant old houses the rest are trailer-type homes. On the following pages we present pictures of some of the old homes in the town or nearby and some of the new homes.

   This old home (below) built by J. D. Bell, founder of Bellwood, is located on Hiway 64 one-quarter mile west of the town. It has been a landmark in the community for over 100 years.
   The original part of the house was the 1 1/2-story part which was built in the 1870s. The larger front addition was built in 1886 in the full victorian style of that era.
   The house was remodelled in 1916 into its present form and size. Much of the Victorian features were removed in that remodeling.

     The old J. D. Bell home as it appears today. Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Bell and their three sons live in the old home. Their boys are the fifth consecutive generation of the family to live in the home.

     This home of State Senator Loran Schmit on the east edge of Bellwood exemplified the architecture of the second decade of this century. It was built for Adolph Yanike and was later owned by Loran's grandfather.

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