Bedford County by Ned Frear
(44 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

A brief and selective history, for the casual reader, featuring some of the stirring events and notable character in Bedford County's lively past: George Washington, James Smith and his Black Boys, Indian Eve, Davey Lewis the robber, The lustrous history of the Bedford Springs, and the story of The Lost Children of the Alleghenies.
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Bedford and Its NeighborsBedford and Its Neighbors by Daniel J. Burns
(128 pages) This book is available for $19.99 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Bedford can trace its roots as far back as 5800 BC, as evidence of early Native American civilizations has been found. Once described as a “prehistoric turnpike,” Bedford was known for Native American migrations. Many tribes passed through and even settled in the area, including the Monongahela tribe who lived here in AD 1300. Bedford continued to play an important role in not only Pennsylvania but also American history during the 18th century. The area saw the movement of troops and the construction of Fort Bedford, which played an integral role in the French and Indian War. Also in town is the building that served as a temporary command post for George Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bedford Springs Hotel was known as the summer White House and played host to countless world dignitaries and many U.S. presidents. With more than 200 photographs, Bedford and Its Neighbors extols the historical relevance of this proud Pennsylvania community.
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NEW BOOK RELEASE ... September 2007
The Bedford SpringsThe Bedford Springs by Ned Frear
This book is available for $15 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

A mile south of Bedford, the grand old hotel represented a different world, visited by the famous, the powerful, the wealthy. The Bedford Springs, for most of its two centuries, was a peaceful, hospitable sanctuary for visitors, particularly the politicians. Soon after it opened, the Springs began to attract prominent national figures. Aaron Burr, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster. Presidents Harrison, Polk and Taylor. And, of course, James Buchanan, year after year; forty years in all. It was all due to the magical qualities of the waters, and the promotion of the founding doctors. This grand hotel was restored and reopened the Summer of 2007.
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Davey Lewis by Ned Frear
(63 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

In a tavern near Bedford, in late 1815, a handsome stranger whose real name was Davey Lewis lost a back-room discussion with the sheriff, and was taken to court. Until then, he had been a free-wheeling, fast-talking operator in several states and in Canada. But in Bedford, he was sentenced to the penitentiary. He was let out of jail, and boasted no jail could hold him. But he couldn't stay out of jail. Three times, he would be brought to Bedford ... and three times, he escaped. Citizens let him out, other citizens brought him in. Big money was involved, but it never surfaced. And the handsome young robber, counterfeiter, gang leader died on the run, shot down by a gang of angry young men like himself. His arm ruined, his life threatened by gangrene, he refused amputation, and died in jail.

Davey Lewis' life tells much about the mores and aspirations of his time. He was a man of boldness, invention, courage, audacity --- but a man who couldn't resist temptation.

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Echoes From the Mines; Volume I by Ron Morgan
(92 pages) This book is available for $14 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Over the years of Ron Morgan's involvement in the ongoing East Broad Top Railroad and Broad Top area coal mining historic preservation activities there have been numerous inquiries and requests for written histories about Robertsdale, Woodvale and other communities associated with the local coal mining industry.

Much has been written about the narrow gauge EBT and the standard gauge Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad over the past two decades but little has been penned about the region's economic mainstay, coal mining. Thus the reason for this publication and the ones that will follow.
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OUT OF PRINT
        

Echoes From the Mines; Volume II by Ron Morgan
(96 pages) This book is available for $14 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

This volume takes a look at the development of the entire Broad Top Coal Field, unlike volume one, which included several long chapters about the history of the old Robertsdale "Company Store" and the coal-mining town of Wood, on the southern end of the East Broad Top Railroad. A lot of new information appears in this edition, particularly in regards to early coal exploration on the tri-county Broad Top Coal Field.

Also in this edition the author concentrates on the "Women of the Broad Top," including one woman's memories of working in the Broad Top mines at Joller.

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Famous Names by Ned Frear
(76 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Out of the mists of English history, the name of Bedford emerges. It is the name of a succession of powerful Dukes, one the tormentor of Joan of Arc, another the prop for king George III. In this name, a fort rises in the Pennsylvania wilderness, and a village endures to attract an uncommon community of families. Their relations and connections begin the list of famous names. The Bedford Springs brings more. Some come with the armies, some for adventure. Many are politicians. And some are native sons, gone out to make their names, Bedford, through its famous names, is common to many books of American History.
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Fires of Bedford County by Ned Frear
(82 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

The fire fiend, often striking in the dead of night, brought terror and panic and devastation through the generations. All too often, it rode high winds and laughed at pathetic streams of water. It destroyed large buildings, whole communities. Citizens urged their men to unite as fire companies, to be prepared. Equipment was bought, a building provided. Brave men stood ready, but fire found ways to defeat them. This is the record of major fires, and fortunately for most towns --- Bedford, Everett, Saxton, Schellsburg --- they were always stopped. Our communities and their treasured antiquity have been preserved. ... Nearly all of this book is taken from the pages of the Bedford Gazette, and is the story of brave men fighting fires. They are stories which deserve to be remembered in times to come.
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Fort Bedford by Ned Frear
(64 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Into the frontier in western Pennsylvania came the British Army in 1758 to establish a fort at Raystown called Fort Bedford, for the politically powerful Duke of Bedford. It was to be one of a series of stepping stones through the howling wilderness to the forks of the Ohio. With these forts, the British drove out the French, to ensure English-speaking dominance of the continent. Fort Bedford's mission was quickly done. In its few remaining years, before it collapsed, it would serve as a haven for settlers during Indian raids. And it would be "liberated" by American rebels, nearly ten years before the Revolution. Fort Bedford, above all, was a symbol of British resolve to fight for the continent, to move across these mountains, to take possession of America.
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I Remember My Childhood in Bedford Pennsylvania by Winona Garbrick
(76 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

A lifetime which began in the horse and buggy days and has seen the miracle of man's landing on the moon has witnessed profound changes not even imagined in the early years of the Twentieth Century. Only one who has experienced them can realize the vast differences that time has wrought in the lifestyles of average people.

Perhaps some of the changes may become evident to those who read these sketches describing the childhood days of one small girl who lived in the sleepy town of Bedford --- written as they were recalled after many years, recounted without nostalgia, but with great fondness.
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Kevin Kutz Lincoln Highway BookKevin Kutz Lincoln Highway by Ned Frear
84 color plates of paintings & drawings) This book is available for $29.95 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

For more than twenty-five years, Kevin Kutz has been painting scenes along the Lincoln Highway--taverns, barns, bridges, diners, gas stations, motels, drive-ins, townscapes, and rural areas. This book offers an assortment of Kutz's diverse Lincoln Highway images, mostly of Pennsylvania scenes, which are rendered in a variety of styles and moods.
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The Lost ChildrenThe Lost Children by Ned Frear
(76 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Two little boys, lost in the wilderness of the Allegheny Front in 1856 brought a thousand men from near and far to search the twisting hollows and steep ridges. For two desperate weeks, they hunted in vain until a man named Jacob Dibert had three dreams, in which he found them. The story of the Lost Children of the Alleghenies has always been compelling. With the full awareness of those troubled times, it becomes even more dramatic.

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My Favorites by Ned Frear
(76 pages) This book is available for $10 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

A selection of my favorite writings over 38 years. It is extremely difficult to choose the few we can print, because there have been so many inspiring, fascinating people to write about. Many others could be included. I tried to disregard the editorials on subjects that vexed me, and chose columns that still move me.
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Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges by Benjamin D. Evans & June R. Evans
(306 pages) This book is available for $19.95 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Pennsylvania, the site of the first covered bridge in the United States (over the Schuykill River in Philadelphia), remains the state with the most surviving structures. Ben and June Evans revisited every one, criss-crossing the state during the spring and summer of 2000, taking new photographs and noting changes since 1993, the year the first edition of Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges was published. The result is a revised and expanded second edition, filled to the brim with color photographs and additional information about each of the 221 remaining covered bridges in the state.
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The Roy Wilburn Story by Ron Morgan
(63 pages) This book is available for $8 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

The East Broad Top Railroad lost a good friend and lifelong supporter on August 31, 1991. Curtis LeRoy "Roy" Wilburn, longtime associate of the railroad and operating vice president of the company at the time of his retirement in 1989, was many things to many people. It would be safe to say that Roy --- to a great degree --- was the EBT.
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Weird PennsylvaniaWeird Pennsylvania by Mark Moran, Matt Lake and Mark Sceurman
(272 pages) This book is available for $19.95 at the Bedford County Visitors Bureau office or by mail order (see prices below).

Matt Lake and Amos the giant Amish statue live in Pennsylvania. Both are tall, dark-haired men known for their unusual facial hair, strange style of dress, and habit of telling groaner jokes in an outrageous accent. Here is where the similarities end. Matt Lake did not stand outside Zinn’s Diner for decades attracting customers. For his part, Amos has never taught science in grade school and does not live outside Philadelphia with his extraordinary wife, Caroline, and their son and daughter.
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...
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Bedford County Visitors Bureau
131 South Juliana Street
Bedford, PA 15522

 

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