Across the Monongahela River to the south in Washington County, Belle Vernon runs adjacent with the aforementioned borough of Speers as well as Dunlevy.

During his lifetime, the population grew to about 700, and there was a steam ferry connecting Belle Vernon with Allen Township across the river.

The little hamlet boasted five dry goods stores, four groceries, two glasshouses with 87 employees, a boot and shoe, cabinet, chair, wagon, saddle/harness, blacksmith/tanning shops, and two sawmills.

Boat hulls were built at his boatyard (owned in partnership with a man named Morgan Gaskill), located on 3rd Street in the 1830s and 1840s.

Several steamboats are noted to have come from the yard, including the Minstrel, which in 1842 fell off its building docks killing one and injuring 10.

The St. Anthony bound for Galena, Illinois, and the Cassandra headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, came from the Belle Vernon yard.

William, who spent three months in Libby Prison during the Civil War, left the army after attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Samuel Dougherty, a carpenter, is claimed to have built the first dwelling in North Belle Vernon on Broad Avenue near Spring Alley.

The first two industries were a foundry in 1873 on Broad Avenue above Spring Alley and a flour mill on Speer Street in 1874.

The borough, along with the abutting communities on the right bank of the Monongahela such as Fayette City and North Belle Vernon, is served by the Belle Vernon Area School District, whose buildings are located in adjacent Rostraver Township in Westmoreland County.