6441 Lincoln Highway, Bedford, PA 15522
Phone: (814-623-2011)
Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00am-4:00pm, Third Saturday of every month from 9:00am to 2:00pm
Library Usage Fee: $5.00 for the first hour and $2.00 per hour thereafter for non-members.
Website: http://www.bedfordpahistory.com
The Bedford County Historical Society is housed in an historic "bank" barn at 6441 Lincoln Highway, Bedford, PA, on U.S. 30 about four miles west of the center of Bedford Borough and about 3/4 mile east of the Jean Bonnet Tavern.
The Bedford County Historical Society’s resources include an extensive collection of published and unpublished family histories and family files donated by patrons and members of the society. Of particular interest are the genealogical notes accumulated by Tom Imler for the WPA. The society collects church records and cemetery records for the county and surrounding region, which includes the western counties of the state of Maryland. The library contains county histories of nearly all the counties in Pennsylvania. The library possesses a complete collection of all the series of the published Pennsylvania Archives in addition to a complete set of Samuel P. Bate’s History Of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-1865, Volumes I, II, III, IV, published in 1869.
In addition to books, the Bedford County Historical Society has amassed a collection of microfilm that includes past issues of the Bedford Gazette and the U.S. Census for Bedford County and the surrounding region.
In 1996 the Bedford County Court House experienced broken water piping in the basement, and as a result, some of the original tax assessment returns and other records which had traditionally been stored there, were damaged. The incident pointed toward the need to provide better housing of those priceless records. The Bedford County Commissioners donated the tax assessment returns and many other records to the Historical Society where they were held until recently. Although the Historical Society no longer maintains custody of the county records, many of them were microfilmed while in their custody and are available for research purposes. Recently, a collection of veterans papers dating from the 1830s to the Civil War period were also donated to the society for safekeeping.
137 East Main St., Everett, PA 15537
Phone: (814-652-5922)
Hours: Monday-Thursday 1:00pm-8:00pm, Friday 10:00am-8:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm
Website: http://www.everettlibrary.org/
The Everett Free Library maintains some family history files, newspapers from the region, and microfilm of the U.S. Census for Bedford County for the years 1800 through 1910.
911 Church St., Saxton, PA 16678
Phone: (814-635-3533)
Hours: Monday, Wednesday 2:00pm-9:00pm, Tuesday, Thursday 6:00pm-9:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm
Website: http://mysite.verizon.net/saxtonlibrary/
The Saxton Community Library maintains a collection of published and unpublished family histories along with some county history books.
