Bedford Springs Hotel Historic District

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.