Chris Richardson
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 of 1871 and called the new town “Belton.” Belton was incorporated in 1872. It was named for one of Scott’s close friends, Captain Marcus Lindsey Belt, who helped Scott survey the land. The two had served in the Civil War together.

