Bedford Courthouse Square Historic District

Introduction

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Bedford Courthouse Square Historic District is a town square in downtown Bedford, Lawrence County, Indiana. Developed over the course of a century from 1850 to around 1950 this historic district includes many architectural styles. The buildings surrounding the square include restaurants, retail stores, government buildings, and other local businesses. This historic district is also known for its monuments and historical facts that surround the square.

Images

Bedford town square in 1963

Backstory and Context

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The concept for developing this square began in 1825 when a plan was created for the geographic location for this historic district. The courthouse is the centerpiece in this town square as it's surrounded by commercial buildings that would attract people. As mentioned earlier this town square is know for some of the architectural styles used on the buildings. These styles include greek revival, Italianate, romanesque revival, neoclassical, and some basic commercial styled architecture. Something else that is unique in the design to this town square is the layout and naming of streets. East to west streets are labelled numerically while north and south streets are in alphabetical order.

The reasoning of this historic town square being located in Bedford is because of it's been the commercial and governmental center of Lawrence County leading up to the concept of this town square. From 1825 to 1945 Bedford was seen especially as a populous place and attracted many residents which also played a role in this town square getting its historical context.

Sources

Bedford Courthouse Square Historic District. https://www.in.gov/history/markers/379.htm.

U.S. Department of the Interior. Asset Detail. National Parks Service. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=203abad1-39e7-44ca-a3f1-1a00ac3205e4.