Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #18 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Espy House, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 210 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1800.
Bedford dates its founding to 1751 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1800.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bedford is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #18 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs put Bedford near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bedford’s 747 sits above most of its state (96% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 213 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bedford.
The area around Bedford was inhabited by European traders during the late 1740s and early 1750s. Permanent settlers, however, did not arrive until after Forbes Road was constructed in 1758 to support the Forbes Expedition's campaign against Fort Duquesne.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Bedford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
laid out by John Hinkston, John Woods, Thomas Jamison, James Pollock and Garrett Pendergrass, viewers. At the same time a road from the town of Bedford, “separating from the Great Road, which leads from the town of Bedford to Fort Pitt, at a small distance to the westward of Smith’s run; from thence extending by James Anderson’s and joining the said
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.![Ray's Town Branch of the Juniata, including the springs known by the name of the Three Springs. Bounded westward with land formerly claimed by William Fredrigal [see history of Bedford Borough for account of Fredregill], and in Bedford township in the county of Bedford aforesaid, being the same lan…](https://images.townratings.com/story/15172/bk-6464c11578cbc574-l.jpg)
Ray's Town Branch of the Juniata, including the springs known by the name of the Three Springs. Bounded westward with land formerly claimed by William Fredrigal [see history of Bedford Borough for account of Fredregill], and in Bedford township in the county of Bedford aforesaid, being the same land on which the Town called Bedford now stands, and containing by Estimate, three hundred acres, be the same more or less.”
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Having now given an account of the town of Bedford, I proceed to the Bedford Springs. These celebrated Springs are about Ij miles south of Bedford. The medicinal properties of the Bedford spring, i.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBedford fraser tavern
Born hereHenry Woods is born here
Born hereAbraham Arnold is born here
Born hereGeorge Washington Williams is born here
In the archiveFort Bedford Inn
In the archiveToll gate
In the archiveKing's garage
In the archiveBennett's Motor Court, U.S. Highway 220... At entrance to Pennsylvania Turnpike... Bedfor…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey5 decades in the archive, from the 1750s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bedford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bedford.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bedford’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 257 and 3,696 people in every census since 1800.
23 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bedford’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Bedford’s post office has been open since 1789. Another post office, Bedford Springs, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1751, according to Wikidata. Bedford’s post office opened in 1789, and the census of 1800 counted 257 people here.
Bedford is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #18 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Espy House (a National Historic Landmark since 1983), and 1 historic district, the Bedford Historic District, with 210 contributing buildings. 213 historic buildings in all.
45% of Bedford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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