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Welcome to Bedford ...

Bedford is located in Bedford County<1> and is the County Seat for Bedford County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Bedford, you might consider that their post office opened in 1789.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Bedford has a population of 2,678 people<2> (see below for details).

Bedford is 1,610 feet [491 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Bedford lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Bedford: 814 & 582<4>

The ZIP code for Bedford: 15522<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Bedford had an population of 2,678 people. This is a decrease of 5.74% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 14.74% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Bedford had a population of 2,841 people (which is 5.72% of the total population of Bedford County). This makes Bedford the county's most populous community.

The population of Bedford represents 0.02% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's 331st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,841 people, the population of Bedford decreased 9.55% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 3,141 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Bedford.

Communities Also Named Bedford ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 32 communities that are also named Bedford - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana (2), Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan (2), Missouri, Montana (2), New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New York (2), North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Quebec, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia (2), Washington and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bedford.

Websites for Bedford ...

Chamber of Commerce:   www.bedfordcountychamber.org/

Although we don't have any websites that are specific to Bedford, the following might be of interest:

Communities near Bedford ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bedford.

  • Everett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Central City
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Hyndman
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Saxton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Schellsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Manns Choice
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Woodbury
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hopewell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Pleasantville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
  • New Paris
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bedford. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bedford.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bedford. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bedford.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bedford. Our list includes 23 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Bedford.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bedford ...

Looking for more information about Bedford? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Bedford, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Bedford.

Adding Bedford to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bedford in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Bedford was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Bedford post office opened in 1789.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bedford.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Bedford, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Bedford.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bedford - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 814 code has been Overlayed with the 582 area code. New phone numbers in the Bedford area will be assigned with one of these codes: 814 or 582. As a result, placing a call in the Bedford area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Bedford). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Bedford or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/