The story
Read it all →How Bedford Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Bedford Township.
Bedford Township was first organized in 1839. As of 1910 it had a population of 2,076.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Bedford Township
Bedford Township’s post office opened in 1839, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #125 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 37 buildings. Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1960.
1839first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Bedford Township began
When was Bedford Township founded?
1839
The Bedford Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 10,486 in 19602020 census: 9,198187 years
How historic is Bedford Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bedford Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bedford Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bedford Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #125 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bedford Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1839, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194010.1% of homes (±3.0) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 37 historic buildings, 40.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 82%
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bedford Township’s 40.4 sits above most of its state (90% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Bedford Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bedford Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Camp Custer Veterans Administration Hospital-United States Veterans Hospital No. 100 takes in 37 historic buildings.Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.On the map since 19186 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1985. Watch Bedford Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Bedford Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bedford Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the National Register
1 listing protects 37 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
37
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Camp Custer Veterans Administration Hospital-Un…
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Colonial Revival1
Classical Revival1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BedfordBedford Hills Mobile VillageCreek Valley Mobile Home ParkLevel ParkMorgan CornersOak Park
Gone or out of use
Custer Air Force Stationmilitary
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bedford Township
BedfordBedfordHamiltonHarmon Halladay
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Bedford Township, 1839 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1839Post officeThe Bedford post office opens
- 1860
Born hereEudora Bumstead is born here - 20th century
- 1918
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Bedford Township on the map, 1918 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bedford Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Battle Creek sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bedford Township.
People over time
Bedford Township, census by census
Between 9,198 and 10,817 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bedford Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Bedford Township’s history
What year was Bedford Township founded?
The Bedford Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bedford Township rank for history?
Bedford Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #125 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Bedford Township?
One place: the Camp Custer Veterans Administration Hospital-United States Veterans Hospital No. 100 (listed 2012).
How old are the homes in Bedford Township?
10% of Bedford Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1962.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.