 As the isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona developed into the city of Madison, the village of Belmont slowly faded.Many of the settlers who had rushed to Belmont when it became territorial capital were now leaving for Madison.Still, the village survived, although the route taken by the Mineral Point Railroad prompted most of its residents to relocate three miles to the southeast of the original town in 1867, meaning that the first capitol is now three miles northwest of Belmont.