Belmont, city, San Mateo County, western California, on San Mateo Peninsula; incorporated 1926. The city is a residential suburb of San Francisco and has some light industry. The College of Notre Dame (1868) is located here. It was settled in 1850 around a stagecoach station; the name of the city comes from two French words meaning “beautiful mountain.” Population 24,505 (1980); 24,127 (1990); 25,123 (2000).