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CHistory
History · Bedford

Bedford’s post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #256 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Bedford was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Bedford School. Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1960.

1877first post office
1on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
19famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bedford began

When was Bedford founded?

1877

The Bedford post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,706 in 19602020 census: 49,928149 years

How historic is Bedford?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Bedford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Bedford’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bedford is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #256 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bedford’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±0.7) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 60%

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bedford’s 0.2 sits above most of its state (69% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. 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’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 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Famous sons and daughtersCayden Boyd, Jenna Boyd and 17 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bedford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bedford’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people

19 famous people were born in Bedford

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
C
Cayden BoydAmerican actor · b. 1994
J
Jenna BoydAmerican actress · b. 1993
Courtney KupetsAmerican gymnast · b. 1986
Kyler MurrayAmerican football and baseball player · b. 1997
Blake SwihartAmerican baseball player · b. 1992
Daniel KeithAmerican actor, director, writer, producer · b. 1982
The story so far

Bedford, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bedford yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bedford is a city located in northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, United States, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 49,928 at the 2020 census. Bedford is part of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District.

Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 46,979 to 49,928 (+6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bedford, 1877 to 1997

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Bedford post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1986Born hereCourtney Kupets is born here
  6. 1993Born hereJenna Boyd is born here
  7. 1994Born hereCayden Boyd is born here
  8. 1997Born hereKyler Murray is born here
By decade

Bedford, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Daystar headquarters 022026Daystar headquarters 02Daystar headquarters 012026Daystar headquarters 01Kroger Bedford Texas 2019 12 292019Kroger Bedford Texas 2019 12 29Big Lots Bedford Texas 2019 12 292019Big Lots Bedford Texas 2019 12 29StateNational Oct13 99580 cropped2014StateNational Oct13 99580 croppedPencil Sharpener and Writing Ink2014Pencil Sharpener and Writing InkPennington Field exterior2007Pennington Field exterior
On the map

Bedford on the map, 1931 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bedford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bedford on the 1931 USGS mapBedford on the 1959 USGS mapBedford on the 1968 USGS mapBedford on the 1973 USGS mapBedford on the 1981 USGS mapBedford on the 1995 USGS map1931Grapevine sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bedford.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bedford

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Bedford School
Bedford School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Bedford SchoolVernacular

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Bedford, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,000196019802000202049,928

Grew from 2,706 people in 1960 to 49,928 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bedford’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

EulessIts storyDHurstIts storyDColleyvilleIts storyD−

Questions about Bedford’s history

What year was Bedford founded?

The Bedford post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Bedford rank for history?

Bedford is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #256 of 642 in Texas. 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?

One place: the Bedford School (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in Bedford?

0.8% of Bedford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1983.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.