Support independent writing by and for the Rust Belt. Become a member today. »
(Cancel anytime.)
Independent, context-driven regional writing. Support Belt Magazine today. »
(Cancel anytime.)
More Stories
SGS Presents: Behind The Sign, Episode #2
At first glance, West 65th Street, between Clark and Denison, tells a story of neglect. There were once kill plants and cattle yards, then came a box store and strip retail that supplied landfills with furry plastic and leisurewear;
What Philip Levine’s Work Is
Philip Levine’s father came to the United States from Russia, traveling across the ocean all by himself at age eleven. He grew up in New York City with two older sisters and their families. His path to Detroit was an extraordinary one ...
How To Make A Building Fall
One Saturday morning when I was eight, my dad took my brother and me downtown to watch a building get blown up. Thousands of people came out to celebrate the event, as strange as that sounds.
Why Is West Virginia Harming Its Craft Distilleries?
Bloomery, a local distillery in Charles Town, West Virginia is, as residents will tell you, a state treasure. But it has recently shuttered its doors due a dispute with the WVABCA due to an absurdly harmful twist to their liquor license ...
The Avondale Horror: Cincinnati’s 1884 Burking Murders
On the night of February 15, 1884, the Avondale dairy farmer Louis Mills saw the glow of fire on the northwest horizon. The waning moon had yet to rise, so the night was otherwise dark and the orange dome foreboding.
Numbers Now Say Burke Is Really No Longer Needed
There are times when Mark Twain was right, that numbers are lies and damn lies and all that, but there are others times when the numbers line up so pointedly that they connect the dots in a way that no verbal argument ever could.
Auto Endeavor: A Photo Collection by Serhii Chrucky
This collection of black-and-white film photographs taken by Serhii Chrucky surveys automotive-oriented environments in the Northern Rust Belt between 2003-2008.
Harvey & Me: Let’s Just Wait
The first installment of Harvey & Me, a comic series appearing in Belt, written by Anne Elizabeth Moore and Illustrated by Melissa Mendes.
Michigan’s Great Leap Backward
The word “vagina” first brought national attention to Michigan’s conservative state legislature. It was uttered by Democratic state Rep. Lisa Brown during a debate on a bill to regulate abortion clinics by requiring doctors to screen women ...
Friday Links Roundup
A Seamstress Who Handed Off To The N.F.L. for 48 Years [The New York Times] [...]
Biting into Buffalo’s Shifting Wing Scene
Deep-fried, crispy, and with that unmistakable aroma — at first bite, a true Buffalo wing bites back with a kick of Frank’s Red Hot. Born in Buffalo in 1964, and made of nothing more than chicken coated in Frank’s Red Hot and butter ...

Get the latest stories from around the region sent straight to your inbox.

Get the latest stories from around the region sent straight to your inbox.
Support independent, context-driven regional writing.