Originally the site of an Anishinaabe (Mississaugas) village in the 18th century known as Asukhknosk, the future location of the city was settled by United Empire Loyalists. It was first called Singleton's Creek after an early settler, George Singleton, and then Meyer's Creek after prominent settler and industrialist John Walden Meyers, one of the founders of Belleville who built a sawmill and grist mill. It was renamed Belleville in honour of Lady Annabella Gore in 1816, after a visit to the settlement by Sir Francis Gore and his wife.