Beloit, a city of Rock county, Wis., situated on both sides of Rock river, at the mouth of Turtle creek, near the southern boundary of the state, 65 m. S. W. of Milwaukee; pop. in 1870, 4,396. It is built on a beautiful plain, from which the ground rises abruptly to a height of 50 or 60 feet, affording excellent sites for residences. It is the seat of Beloit college, founded in 1847, which is under the control of the Congregationalists, and in 1871 had 9 instructors, 133 students in the preparatory and 64 in the academic department, and a library of 7,200 volumes. The city is noted for its broad, handsome streets, and for its fine churches; the Congregational church, constructed of gray limestone, is considered one of the most beautiful in the state. Beloit is well supplied with water power, has a flourishing trade, and contains several manufactories of woollen goods, of reapers and fanning mills, of scales, of carriages, an iron foundery and machine shop, several flouring mills, 2 newspaper offices, several hotels, a bank, a high school, and 4 grammar and 8 primary schools. It is the point of intersection of the Chicago and Northwestern and the "Western Union railroads. A fertile prairie, the largest in the state, lies on the E. side of Rock river.

Beloit was settled about 1837, and incorporated as a city in 1856.