Bedford, Virginia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bedford, Virginia
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Incorporated town
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Bedford County Courthouse
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| Nickname(s):
The World's Best Little Town
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| Motto(s):
Life. Liberty. Happiness.
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Location in Virginia
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| Country | United States | |
| State | Virginia | |
| County | Bedford County | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Town Council | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 8.75 sq mi (22.67 km2) | |
| • Land | 8.72 sq mi (22.59 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.03 sq mi (0.07 km2) | |
| Elevation | 1,004 ft (306 m) | |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 6,657 | |
| • Density | 760.8/sq mi (293.65/km2) | |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) | |
| ZIP code |
24523
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| Area code(s) | 540 | |
| FIPS code | 51-05544 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 1498450 | |
| Website | http://www.bedfordva.gov | |
Bedford is an incorporated town and former independent city located within Bedford County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It serves as the county seat of Bedford County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,657. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bedford County surrounds the town and has the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north, Smith Mountain Lake to the south, Lynchburg to the east, and Roanoke to the west.
Contents
History
Bedford was originally known as Liberty, "named after the Colonial victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown." Founded as a village in 1782, Liberty became Bedford County's seat of government, replacing New London which had become part of the newly formed Campbell County. Liberty became a town in 1839 and in 1890 changed its name to Bedford City. In 1912, Bedford reverted to town status, it resumed city status in 1968, and once more it reverted to a town in 2013. In November 1923, the town was the site of an accidental mass poisoning in which nine men were killed after drinking apple cider served at the Elks National Home. A local farmer had produced the drink and stored in a barrel that had been used to hold a pesticide.
Bedford is home to the National D-Day Memorial (despite the "National" in its name, the memorial is owned and operated by a non-governmental, non-profit, education foundation). The United States Congress warranted that this memorial would be the nation's D-Day Memorial and President Bill Clinton authorized this effort in September 1996. President George W. Bush dedicated this memorial as the nation's D-Day memorial on June 6, 2001. Bedford lost more residents per capita in the Normandy landings than any other American community. Nineteen of the thirty-four Virginia National Guard soldiers from Bedford who were in Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division were killed on D-Day, and four more died during the rest of the Normandy campaign, two of them from other 116th companies. With a 1944 population of about 3,200, proportionally this community suffered the nation's most severe D-Day losses.
Bedford was designated as an independent city in 1968, but remained the county seat of Bedford County. Its status as an independent city was ended on July 1, 2013, returning to a town within Bedford County.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.9 square miles (18 km2), of which 6.9 square miles (18 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.052 km2) (0.3%) is water.
Bedford sits at the foot of the Peaks of Otter.
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1860 | 722 | — | |
| 1870 | 1,208 | 67.3% | |
| 1880 | 2,191 | 81.4% | |
| 1890 | 2,897 | 32.2% | |
| 1900 | 2,416 | −16.6% | |
| 1910 | 2,508 | 3.8% | |
| 1920 | 3,243 | 29.3% | |
| 1930 | 3,713 | 14.5% | |
| 1940 | 3,973 | 7.0% | |
| 1950 | 4,061 | 2.2% | |
| 1960 | 5,921 | 45.8% | |
| 1970 | 6,011 | 1.5% | |
| 1980 | 5,991 | −0.3% | |
| 1990 | 6,073 | 1.4% | |
| 2000 | 6,299 | 3.7% | |
| 2010 | 6,222 | −1.2% | |
| 2020 | 6,657 | 7.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2012 |
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2020 census
At the 2020 census there were 6,657 people in the town. There were 3,163 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 74.4% White, 16.8% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 6.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.9%.
Economy
Top employers
According to the town's 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the town are:
| # | Employer | # of Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centra Bedford Memorial Hospital & Centra Medical Group | 364 |
| 2 | Bedford County Public Schools | 315 |
| 3 | Walmart | 301 |
| 4 | Sam Moore Furniture LLC | 237 |
| 5 | Smyth Companies Bedford | 132 |
| 6 | Cintas | 130 |
| 7 | Bedford Weaving Mills | 123 |
| 8 | Lowe's | 117 |
| 9 | English Meadows | 70 |
| 10 | Food Lion | 63 |
Education
Bedford is served by Bedford County Public Schools. Public school students residing in Bedford are zoned to attend Bedford Elementary School, Liberty Middle School, and Liberty High School.
Central Virginia Community College operates a branch campus in Bedford.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by mild, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Bedford has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
| Climate data for Bedford, Virginia (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 81 (27) |
79 (26) |
89 (32) |
95 (35) |
100 (38) |
102 (39) |
104 (40) |
101 (38) |
100 (38) |
99 (37) |
87 (31) |
73 (23) |
104 (40) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 46.9 (8.3) |
49.9 (9.9) |
58.1 (14.5) |
69.7 (20.9) |
74.7 (23.7) |
82.4 (28.0) |
86.4 (30.2) |
85.2 (29.6) |
78.9 (26.1) |
68.7 (20.4) |
58.8 (14.9) |
49.5 (9.7) |
67.4 (19.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 37.3 (2.9) |
39.2 (4.0) |
47.1 (8.4) |
57.4 (14.1) |
64.3 (17.9) |
72.1 (22.3) |
76.5 (24.7) |
74.9 (23.8) |
68.7 (20.4) |
57.5 (14.2) |
48.1 (8.9) |
40.4 (4.7) |
57.0 (13.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 27.8 (−2.3) |
28.5 (−1.9) |
36.0 (2.2) |
45.1 (7.3) |
53.8 (12.1) |
61.8 (16.6) |
66.7 (19.3) |
64.7 (18.2) |
58.6 (14.8) |
46.2 (7.9) |
37.3 (2.9) |
31.3 (−0.4) |
46.5 (8.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −10 (−23) |
−6 (−21) |
4 (−16) |
20 (−7) |
28 (−2) |
36 (2) |
43 (6) |
42 (6) |
29 (−2) |
21 (−6) |
8 (−13) |
−6 (−21) |
−10 (−23) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.62 (92) |
3.01 (76) |
3.45 (88) |
3.85 (98) |
4.60 (117) |
4.71 (120) |
4.29 (109) |
3.81 (97) |
4.37 (111) |
3.59 (91) |
3.27 (83) |
3.74 (95) |
46.31 (1,176) |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Transportation
U.S. Route 221 runs through the town; and U.S. Route 460 circumvents the main part of town. State routes 43 and 122 converge onto the town.
Until the late 1960s, there were three different Southern Railway/Norfolk & Western Railroad trains operating daily at Bedford station.
- Birmingham Special—New York City to Birmingham, and branch to Memphis
- Pelican—New York to New Orleans
- Tennessean—Washington to Memphis
Amtrak service to Roanoke travels through, but there were plans to build a new station stop in Bedford.
International links
Bedford has a Friendship Treaty with:
Bedford maintains relationships with 11 communities on the Normandy Coast of France. One sister city, Trévières, France, sent Bedford an exact replica of its own World War I memorial statue. The face of the statue was damaged in World War II by artillery fire from US forces retaking the town. The Bedford statue also bears these wounds and is erected on the grounds of the National D-Day Memorial.
Notable people
- Roger Anderson, NFL player
- F.W. Caulkins, architect
- Lawrence Chambers, the first African American to command a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and the first African American graduate of the Naval Academy to reach flag rank.
- Joseph P. Cleland. U.S. Army major general
- John Goode Jr., Virginia Congressman, Solicitor General of the United States
- Richard Urquhart Goode, geographer with the United States Geological Survey and Panama Canal
- The "Bedford Boys", 34 local men who served in the National Guard's 116th Infantry Regiment during the amphibious landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day in World War II.
See also
In Spanish: Bedford (Virginia) para niños
