Welcome to Bessemer ...

Bessemer is located in Botetourt County<1>.

The location of Bessemer has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

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.<3>.

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

Bessemer lies within the (540) area code.

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)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
  • Covington is located in Covington City
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,639 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Covington <4>
• Clifton Forge
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Forge
  • Clifton Forge is located in Alleghany County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,444 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifton Forge <4>
• Buchanan
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
  • Buchanan is located in Botetourt County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,182 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buchanan <4>
• Troutville
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutville
  • Troutville is located in Botetourt County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troutville <4>
• Iron Gate
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron Gate have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
  • Iron Gate is located in Alleghany County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
• Fincastle
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fincastle
  • Fincastle is located in Botetourt County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fincastle <4>
• New Castle
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
  • New Castle is located in Craig County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Castle <4>
• Haden
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haden
  • Haden is located in Botetourt County
• Salt Petre Cave
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Salt Petre Cave. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Petre Cave
  • Salt Petre Cave is located in Botetourt County
  • Salt Petre Cave has also been known as:
  • Salt Peter Cave
  • Saltpetre
• Strom
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strom have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strom
  • Strom is located in Botetourt County

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 for Bessemer was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

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

We also found Bessemer in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bessemer.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bessemer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Botetourt County: www.co.botetourt.va.us/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/