Belmont-Cragin Elementary School

Grades

General information, Belmont-Cragin Elementary School

Belmont-Cragin is the name of a community, sharing the Cragin name with the Cragin Brothers and Company, a tin plate and steel iron processing plant. The Cragin brothers built their metals manufacturing plant along the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad in 1883.

The name Belmont is derived from the Civil War's Battle of Belmont which took place in Missouri on November 7, 1861. Union troops, under the direction of General U.S. Grant, traveled by steamers from Cairo, IL on the Mississippi to Belmont, Missouri where they intercepted Confederate Troops on the move. The Rebels withdrew and the Grant destroyed their supplies, then headed back to Cairo before a reinforced Confederate contingent could effectively counterattack.