Originally the site of a Native settlement known as Asukhknosk, the future location of the city was settled by United Empire Loyalists in 1789, after which it became known as Meyer's Creek after prominent settler and industrialist John Walden Meyers. It was renamed Belleville in honour of Lady Arabella Gore in 1816, after a visit to the settlement by Sir Francis Gore and his wife. A grassroots movement to restore historical names throughout the province of Ontario has been successful in organizing a referendum in the 2010 municipal election to rename the city back to Meyers Creek.