History of Bedford, Pennsylvania, USA

Bedford, borough (town), seat (1771) of Bedford county, southern Pennsylvania, U.S., on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Raystown Branch Juniata River, in the Allegheny Mountains, 38 miles (61 km) south of Altoona. A settlement made on the site about 1750 by John Wray (or Ray), a Scottish trader, was known as Raystown. Fort Bedford (built 1758 and apparently named for John Russell, 4th duke of Bedford) was a frontier rallying point and supply base for the British colonial campaign against the French Fort Duquesne (modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The town of Bedford was platted in 1766. In 1794 President George Washington paused there to inspect troops sent to put down the Whiskey Rebellion; Espy House, which he then occupied, has been preserved. Bedford formed the background for several of Hervey Allen’s historical novels, notably Bedford Village (1944) and The Forest and the Fort (1943).

The nearby resort area of Bedford Springs with its medicinal waters was used by President James Buchanan as a summer White House. The Blue Knob ski area, Coral Caverns, and Shawnee State Park are nearby. Fort Bedford Park and Museum includes a scale model of the original fort, and Old Bedford Village has reconstructed buildings of the 1750–1850 period. Bedford’s manufactures include bicycles, clothing, aerial work platforms, mining equipment, toys, and wood products. Inc. 1795.