Thomas A. Markham
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Click Below toStop |
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"Old Pal of Mine" |
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A Painting of Liberty, Virginia in 1855 |
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Peaks of Otter in Winter |
Peaks of Otter 1928 |
Situated in the western part of the Piedmont plain., about seven miles from the scenic Peaks of Otter, Bedford has had a long, proud history. Over the years its name has been altered several times. First called "Liberty" when it was founded in 1782, it became known as "Bedford City" during the boom of 1890. In 1912, when all hope of Bedford developing into a large industrial center had faded, "City" was dropped, only to be incorporated in the name again in 1968, when by action of the town council, it became known as the "City of Bedford".
The story of how the town of
Liberty got
its start is an interesting one. When
New London, which served as the county seat until 1782, became a part of the newly formed
Campbell County, Bedford was forced to look for a new site.
William
Callaway, Jr. was asked to make a survey of the county in order to locate the new court house as near
the center as possible.
While the Court was at
New London
the Clerks Office was used by
Jimmy Steptoe,
who was
Clerk of the Court
at that time, and many interesting stories are written about this
era.
In the meantime an offer of a hundred acres land along what was known as Bramblett's Road was made by Joseph Fuqua and William Downey. A committee, consisting of William Mead, William Leftwich, William Trigg, Henry Buford, and James Buford, was asked to examine the land to determine its suitability and report to the court by July 23, 1782. The report being favorable, James Buford was asked to make a contract for the building of a courthouse, prison, and stocks. Accordingly, a courthouse 20' by 30' with a twelve-foot pitch and a chimney of thick dirt or stone was erected in a grove of oaks on the site of the present Bulletin-Democrat building, and the First Court was held on August 25, 1782.
