{"nrhp_refnum":"84001413","name":"Bedford Springs Hotel Historic District","other_names":["Bedford Springs Hotel"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"US 220, Bedford Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bedford","county":"Bedford County","state":"PA","lat":39.99123621250007,"lon":-78.51638049158942,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-12-20","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1991-07-17","areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Politics/Government","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 300-acre historic district centered on the Bedford Springs Hotel resort in a narrow valley along Shober's Run, about one and a half miles south of Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It includes a main hotel complex of six contiguous buildings dating from about 1806 to 1903, seven named mineral springs, a golf course and a small lake.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is one of the nation's finest surviving examples of the nineteenth and early twentieth century mineral springs resort, with unusually well preserved 19th century buildings. Its association with President James Buchanan, who used the resort as a summer White House, and its role as a fashionable destination for prominent visitors are presented as central to its importance.","narrative":"Bedford Springs is a resort complex in a narrow valley of the Allegheny Mountains, about a mile and a half south of Bedford, Pennsylvania. Its main hotel buildings date from about 1806 to 1903 and include the Colonial Building, a three-story Greek Revival hotel built between 1829 and 1842 to a design by local architect Solomon Filler. Seven mineral springs, including Magnesia and Sweet Spring, lie on the surrounding hillsides. The resort was developed by Dr. John Anderson in 1806 and drew guests from Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Five presidents vacationed there, and James Buchanan used it as a summer White House from 1857 to 1861. In the 1900s the Pool Building added a mineral-water pool and hydrotherapy rooms. The district is considered significant for its well-preserved 19th century buildings and for its record of spa life and political gatherings in the antebellum period.","period_of_significance":"c. 1806-1935","architect_builder":"Solomon Filler (architect of the Colonial Building)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne/Eastlake, Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"The hotel was sold at a sheriff's sale in 1935 and reopened the following season; it later served as a Naval radio training school during World War II.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.806814-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/84001413_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001413/4659f83059-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001413/4659f83059-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ally Yovetich","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford_Springs.png\" rel=\"noopener\">Ally Yovetich</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford_Springs.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994143","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4879202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/bedford-county/bedford-springs-hotel-historic-district-84001413/"}