Formed December 13, 1753 (42nd county)
Bedford County (79,465), Bedford (6,650)
The red/brown brick Classical Revival courthouse was constructed in 1930. There was an 1833 version earlier. The structure is on Main Street between Bridge and Court streets. Main Street is United States Highway 460 Business. C. H. Hinnant provided the building designs. The building was renovated in 1998 and 2014. The courthouse features a tower and columns. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. An Administration Building was built in 1991. Many of the Virginia counties have their county seat at a location named after the county followed by the words Court House. Some counties maintain this in their official name. The county was created on December 13, 1753 from Lunenburg County as the 42nd county. New London was the county seat until 1792 when Bedford assumed the position. The City of Bedford was an independent city until 2013. Bedford County and its county seat are named for the Duke of Bedford.
Bedford County government consists of a sheriff and 7 Supervisors. Five Circuit Court Judges and Eight District Court Judges serve Bedford, Amherst, Campbell, and Nelson counties and Lynchburg City and Fifty-nine Magistrate Court Judges serve Bedford, Amherst, Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Botetourt, Campbell, Craig, Franklin, Henry, Highland, Nelson, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Roanoke, and Rockbridge counties and Buena Vista, Covington, Danville, Lexington, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, and Waynesboro cities. The county is in the southwest part of the state. Roanoke, Virginia is directly west and Richmond, Virginia is east of the county. The county center is 5.1 miles South of Bedford. The county is surrounded clockwise by Rockbridge and Amherst counties and the City of Lynchburg and Campbell, Pittsylvania, Franklin, Roanoke, and Botetourt counties.
The area of the county is 755 square miles. It is 5 out of 133 in the state. It ranks 25 out of 133 in population in the state. It has a density of 105.3 persons per square mile making it 68 out of 133 in the state. Bedford County has 8.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 221 crosses through the county from east to west from the City of Lynchburg to Roanoke County. United States Highway 460 enters from Campbell County and joins United States Highway 221 into Roanoke County. United States Highway 501 clips the northeast from Amherst County, northeast, to the City of Lynchburg, east. The county resembles a fat funnel. Bedford is located near the center of the county. Bedford is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 8.4% of the county population. This county is in the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bedford
