The site of Bellrock Village, C11 L19, was purchased for its water-power potential in 1842 by Jacob Huffman of Moscow. William Pomeroy bought the Huffman mill in 1854 and soon Depot Village, named after the creek running through it, became an active lumber centre.
Depot was the heart of the log boom and roads were difficult to keep open as lumber was piled everywhere. The old road to Verona was by the Mill, between Concessions 10 and 11, and eventually joined the Sand Road.
In1861, a post office with the name Bellrock was opened by Daniel Brown, who also operated a store.
The name Bellrock may be a variation on the name James Bell, miller in 1861. An alternative origin is based on the story that a large rock next to the school was used by the teacher who stood on it to ring the bell.
By 1875 there were two sawmills, a grist mill, a carding and fulling mill, three stores, a hotel, two blacksmith shops and a cheese factory. The cheese factory burnt down in 1943. The planing and saw mill were in operation until the 1970s. The last store, built by Damon Ball in 1928, operated until the 1990s.
