No city should develop a plan for the future without first understanding the city’s past. Bedford’s rich history provides a starting point for planners and policy-makers in the form of community identity, shared aesthetic elements, and a sense of purpose and connection to a wider legacy.
The City of Bedford in present day Ohio may appear unassuming and quiet to the casual observer, but like many old American towns it is brimming with history that extends back to the founding of the nation and beyond. Much of the story that could be told about Bedford has been lost, for prior to any European knowledge of the North American continent there were centuries of development and change as American Indian people built towns and cities, created distinct religions and social customs, and engaged with neighboring nations. While today’s average resident of Bedford may not consider this legacy in their daily life, Americans have held on to much more of the legacy of the continent’s first inhabitants than is readily apparent - place names, foods, clothing, and figures of speech can all be traced to cultural exchange with the American Indians, many of whom still live in tribal communities today.
While the more prominent remnants of Ohio’s Indian civilization tend to be seen today across the southern half of the state in places like Chillicothe and Newark, the area where Bedford sits today would have seen migration and trade as major Indian trails passed through. Chief among these were the Cuyahoga-Muskingum Trail running roughly north to south along the Cuyahoga River and the Old Mahoning Trail further away in present day Summit County and beyond, which ran roughly east to west. These trails were a boon to early white explorers, tradesmen and settlers who found themselves in unfamiliar territory, and many future American roads and settlements owe their location to the easier access provided by Indian trails.
In the eighteenth century, the land around Tinker’s Creek existed at the crossroads of three great empires: the French, the British, and the Iroquois. Other ethnic and tribal groups commonly seen in the area of present day Bedford included Shawnee and Ottawa people; both groups were also displaced and scattered by French, British and Iroquois encroachment and violence, but imperialism is not the whole story. Much of the time, an amicable and mutually beneficial network of trade and cultural interaction existed between various combinations of these groups, European and Indian alike. It would not have been uncommon to find Indians with English or French names who practiced Christianity, and many white frontier traders adopted titles from Indian tribes and adopted local customs like the use of wampum as currency.
The region of Ohio containing Bedford was a previous possession of the colony of Connecticut, though this was disputed with Pennsylvania. This land was known as the Western Reserve of Connecticut, a name which survives in some place names such as Case Western Reserve University. A man named Moses Cleaveland, working for the Connecticut Land Co., led a company to the Reserve in 1796 to survey the area in preparation for settlement. While Cleaveland’s name, minus one of the a’s, was given to the new settlement at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, the river which flows through Bedford today was named for the survey company’s primary boatman, Captain Joseph Tinker.
In 1821, a man from Connecticut named Daniel Benedict moved out to join the early settlers in Township 6, and he became influential in the area, ultimately providing the suggestion of naming the settlement Bedford after his hometown of Bedford, Connecticut. Soon after his arrival, the township was officially organized and the name Bedford remained thereafter. Bedford Township originally contained what are now the cities of Bedford, Bedford Heights, Maple Heights, Oakwood, and Walton Hills.
The coming of the railroad was probably the most substantial shift in the development landscape for Bedford. Ever since the establishment of the nearby canal and of various mills and factories along Tinker’s Creek, Bedford could be thought of as a place of some significance, but the railroads allowed Bedford to access the wider world like never before; it also let the world come to Bedford. Several men who at one point served as President of the United States are known to have passed through Bedford by train, namely Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren Harding, and Herbert Hoover.
Railroad development forced the development of more infrastructure around - especially across - Tinker’s Creek, so that trains could get over the gorge carved by the waterway. A wooden trestle bridge was first made in 1852, being replaced in 1864 by the iconic stone bridge with multiple arches called the Bedford Viaduct.
The last time Bedford’s Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Depot was used as a stop for a passenger train was on July 16, 1938. Eventually, the underutilized depot was donated to the City of Bedford in 1986, and it has since been restored to its approximate appearance in the 1920s and sees use by the Bedford Historical Society. The heyday of the railroads may be over for Bedford as it is across the United States, but one can still easily find multiple active rail lines running just south of Bedford’s downtown today, even if the frequency of the trains has significantly declined.
Especially for such a small city, Bedford has seen an impressive number of important businesses crop up throughout the decades, and as has already been discussed it has been a significant location along a number of important commercial thoroughfares. The city’s proximity to the cities of Akron and Cleveland allowed it to prosper from the intense industrial development occurring in Northeast Ohio and the demand for housing and land on which to develop.
One of Bedford’s earliest businesses was also perhaps its most influential and successful. One of Bedford’s earliest residents, Benjamin Franklin Fitch, began hand-assembling chairs in 1816 and gained traction for his innovative use of materials to prevent creaking. The company was passed down to Fitch’s descendants after his daughter married one of his employees, William O. Taylor. In 1885, the company was incorporated as the Taylor Chair Co. The company became a major supplier not only of chairs but office and home furniture, including designer product lines. By the end of the 20th century, Taylor had acquired other companies and factories spanning from coast to coast.
The 1920s were a good time for entrepreneurs in Bedford. One company that started in this decade in Bedford was the Bailey-Walker China Company, founded by Henry Bailey and Albert Walker. Their establishment provided customers with quality dinner sets and other highly sought-after china. Hundreds of people benefited from employment at their facilities until it was sold in 1976. Another successful business, the Stalwart Rubber Co., started operating in Bedford in 1920 under the ownership of Herman W. Osborn. This company managed to survive both the Great Depression and the Second World War while expanding its operations to larger buildings and a significantly larger workforce than the six initial employees Osborn began with. The company acquired another rubber company in Georgia in the 1950s before eventually merging with Blasius Industries in 1969. Unfortunately for Bedford, the company relocated out of the city in 1980 after an impressive sixty years providing jobs to residents of Bedford and the neighboring communities.
Despite the setbacks of losing these major businesses, Bedford continues to attract commercial activity at districts such as the historic Automile and the Tinker’s Creek Commerce Park. The former is a district northwest of downtown Bedford organized in 1956 by the Bedford Automobile Dealers Association to provide an extensive selection of vehicles in one place and to unite the area’s sellers so as to generate an enhanced influence. The latter is a recent brownfield redevelopment project which has allowed companies in need of new facilities - such as Lake Shore Electric, which has a 100+ year history in Bedford - some room to grow.
A critical piece of the utility, desirability, and success of a historic downtown is its business landscape, especially the retail & dining market. This is particularly true in the case of Bedford, where there are two prominent attractions which bring in visitors from outside of the town border the historic main corridor, the Bedford Reservation and the Bedford Automile. Plotting businesses on a map of the city (right) shows heavy concentration of businesses along Broadway Ave., including within the study area, shown in detail by the land use map and site plan (below).
The two maps below highlight parcels in Bedford which are ripe for development, infill, or even potential new store fronts. For example, numerous vacant parcels near the downtown district could be prime opportunities for commercial development. Furthermore, many of the city-owned parcels, such as the parking lots adjacent to Broadway, indicate potential commercial and residential development opportunities. Furthermore, they could be prime locations for new city offices or other public infrastructure which could be of better benefit to citizens in the long-term.
Bedford is blessed to have a ton of green space, open space, and vegetation coverage, with the Bedford Reservation to the southwest contributing the largest swath of undeveloped land and vegetation. This is arguably Bedford’s strongest asset, and to grow its downtown it has to create connections to these green spaces. One of the greatest draws for active families and young people is a lively downtown area with access to green spaces, and our survey data indicated a desire from young parents for things to do with children in Bedford.
Bedford sits at the heart of numerous connections to outdoor recreation. Bedford Reservation has two waterfalls. Four additional spectacular waterfalls are a short drive or a bike trip for avid bikers. Bedford is also connected to Ohio’s vast bike and trail network. Bedford Reservation has 11.5 miles of mountain bike trails. Ohio has over 1,500 miles of interconnected U.S. Bicycle Routes, more than any other state. The Buckeye Trail runs through Bedford and has over 1,400 miles throughout the state. The Bike and Hike Trails connect Bedford to Summit and Portage Counties with over 32 miles of trails. The Ohio to Erie Trail, which utilizes the region’s Towpath in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, has 326 miles of trails Bedford can connect to. The Ohio Department of Transportation and TrailLink have apps to help navigate the trail systems and provide points of interest along the routes. These trails also connect to the national Great American Rail Trail, a multi-use trail that, when completed, will span 3,700 miles between Washington, D.C., and Washington State, repurposing old railroad lines and other multiuse trails. Ohio’s section is 70% complete, with over 230 miles and nearly 100 additional miles proposed.
Numerous outdoor recreation clubs use these various trail systems locally and regionally. Local clubs such as the Cleveland Hiking Club, numerous running clubs, Cleveland Area Mountain Biking Association, and Cleveland Kayakers Club each have thousands of members using Bedford Reservation.
With proper awareness, Bedford can tap into the users of the trail systems to support their local businesses. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park generated $139 million of visitor spending in 2023. The Great American Rail-Trail is expected to generate $13.3 million in visitor spending in Ohio. Outdoor recreation contributes over $400 billion to the US economy, and communities in the East North Central region, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, gained $110.3 billion from visitor spending. The National Parks Conversancy Association provides resources, links to other gateway cities' plans, and a Sourcebook for National Park Gateway Communities as a reference guide.
One aspect of a thriving neighborhood is the sense of community. This can be achieved through safety, education, and amenities. Bedford has a variety of community-oriented amenities, but much of this infrastructure is outside of the study area. Better connections between these resources and downtown will likely not only increase visitors but also residents. Police and fire help create a sense of safety, schools and child care services are crucial for parents, healthcare is needed to maintain populations of all age groups, and the civic center and library work as community hubs for recreation and socialization. Downtown Bedford needs to become a mixture of these community facilities, commercial development, and housing.
