Known for having tree-lined streets and exclusively upscale neighborhoods, the city is home to the private Bellefonte Country Club, which has an 18-hole golf course, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a ballroom.

[5] It is bordered to the north by the city of Russell and to the southeast by the unincorporated community of Westwood in Boyd County.

[2] The city sits on a plateau northwest of Ashland, centered on Kentucky Route 5 and Country Club Drive.

The older section of what would become Bellefonte was laid out in town lots and sold, beginning in 1918, by the Means and Russell Iron Company.

The name "Bellefonte" is of French origin, a combination of the words "belle" for 'beautiful' and "fonte" which has the meaning of 'melting', or in this case 'foundry', 'forge' or 'smelting', referring to the iron furnace located there.

A few of the original log-built dwellings from the 1800s iron furnace settlement remain along Route 5, but have been upgraded to upscale residential homes.

The city is located on a one-mile wide belt of relatively flat land that is approximately 100 feet higher in elevation than the nearby Ohio River valley.

The unusual topography which is easily noticeable on topographical maps and aerial satellite imagery was created by the ancient Teays River.

Larger than the Ohio River, the Teays cut a mile wide valley through the area before being filled with glacial silt during the ice age.

This belt of flat land extends from Catlettsburg where it leaves the Ohio River north to near Wurtland and includes parts of Ashland, Westwood, Bellefonte, Russell and Flatwoods.