Bedford County, Virginia
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 36 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1969; 2 are also National Historic Landmarks. Most listings are in or near Bedford, Forest, Bedford (Independent City).
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for Virginia is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Bedford titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP10 of 36 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
36 listed properties
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBBedford was formed in 1754 (1754-05-10) from Lunenburg.
BEDFORD created from LUNENBURG.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusBedford County population from 1790 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1790 | 1800 | 1820 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,531 | 14,125 | 19,305 | 20,203 | 25,068 | 31,205 | 30,356 | 30,669 | 29,687 | 29,627 | 31,028 | 34,927 | 60,371 | 79,462 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Booker T. Washington National Monument | National Monument | 28.1 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS40 cemeteries and 7 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 40 of 40 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Barton Cemetery |
| Bond Cemetery |
| Callaway - Steptoe Cemetery |
| Calvert Cemetery |
| Coffee Cemetery |
| Ebenezer United Methodist Church Cemetery |
| Fairmont Cemetery |
| Foutz Cemetery |
| Giles Cemetery |
| Grange Cemetery |
| Gray Cemetery |
| Lawhorn Cemetery |
| Leftwich Cemetery |
| Longwood Cemetery |
| Martin Cemetery |
| McKee Cemetery |
| Minter Cemetery |
| Morgan Cemetery |
| Morgans Church Cemetery |
| New Hope Cemetery |
| Nichols Cemetery |
| Nichols Cemetery |
| North Cemetery |
| Norwood Cemetery |
| Otey Street Cemetery |
| Rose Cemetery |
| Saint Clair Cemetery |
| Saint Thomas Episcopal Church Cemetery |
| Sharon Cemetery |
| Simmons Cemetery |
| Staunton Cemetery |
| Stone Road Cemetery |
| Tate Cemetery |
| Thomas Chapel Cemetery |
| Turpin Cemetery |
| Virginia Memorial Park |
| Waldron Cemetery |
| West Cemetery |
| Wheeler Cemetery |
| Wheeler Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 7 of 7
| Name |
|---|
| Clevilas |
| Coonsville |
| Emmaus |
| Fancy Grove |
| Haleford |
| Otter View |
| Robertsons |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Civil War battlefields nearby
ABPPAmerican Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) Civil War study areas near this county.
| Battlefield | Study acres | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Lynchburg | 8,123 | 32.9 km |
Source: NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Civil War Study Areas (public ArcGIS feature service).
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Bedford County, Virginia
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.