Bedford Historic District

Bedford, Virginia, originally called Liberty and established in 1782, has a historic district of 240 buildings in its downtown, two residential neighborhoods and an industrial area north of the railroad. Only 32 of the buildings are noncontributing. The architecture ranges across the 19th and early 20th centuries. Avenel, built in 1836, is the earliest documented house, and Liberty Presbyterian Church of 1844 is called the finest Greek Revival building in the city. Italianate houses and stores, a Romanesque Revival Masonic Hall of 1895, Colonial Revival public buildings including the 1930 county courthouse, and a rare Spanish Colonial Revival school of 1912 add to the variety. Tobacco factories along the railroad and the worker housing nearby show how the industrial boom of the 1870s and 1880s shaped the town, while a fire in 1884 and the building boom of 1890 account for much of the downtown and residential fabric.