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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Bessemer ...

Bessemer is located in Botetourt County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Bessemer, you might consider that their post office opened in 1891.

Bessemer is 940 feet [287 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Bessemer: 540 & 826<3>

Communities Also Named Bessemer ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 11 communities that are also named Bessemer - they are located in Alabama, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania (3), West Virginia and Wyoming.

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

Communities near Bessemer ...

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

  • Covington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Clifton Forge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Buchanan
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Troutville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Iron Gate
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Iron Gate is located in Alleghany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Fincastle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • New Castle
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Haden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Haden is located in Botetourt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haden
  • Salt Petre Cave
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Salt Petre Cave is located in Botetourt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Petre Cave
    • Salt Petre Cave has also been known as:
    • Salt Peter Cave
    • Saltpetre
  • Strom
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Strom is located in Botetourt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strom

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 Bessemer. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bessemer.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bessemer. 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 Bessemer.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bessemer. See our Newspapers Page for Bessemer.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bessemer ...

Looking for more information about Bessemer? 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.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Bessemer, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Bessemer.

Adding Bessemer to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bessemer 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 Bessemer was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Bessemer post office opened in 1891. The Bessemer post office closed in 1917.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bessemer.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Botetourt, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bessemer - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>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 540 code has been Overlayed with the 826 area code. New phone numbers in the Bessemer area will be assigned with one of these codes: 540 or 826. As a result, placing a call in the Bessemer area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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/