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Bedford, Iowa

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Bedford Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50833. The Survey maps it on the Bedford quadrangle. 1,508 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,129 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Bedford within Taylor County

On record in Bedford

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 6 records

Population over time

2 figures

Bedford grew from 1,440 to 1,508 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,440
20201,508+68 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

5 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Bedford between 2006 and 2013, burning about 46 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
21 April 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
29 March 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined40 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 February 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 January 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Taylor County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Bedford: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bedford QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Nash Quarry and MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
One Hundred and Two QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Taylor County

Storms near this place

60 of 116 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bedford in 116 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 39 thunderstorm wind, 36 hail, 31 heavy rain, 4 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1995Thunderstorm WindBedford1 hurt, $9,000no account filed
April 1999Tornado (F1)Bedford$100,000very intermittent track
August 2000Thunderstorm WindBedford$75,000no account filed
August 2000Thunderstorm WindBedford$75,000no account filed
July 2015Flash FloodBedford$50,000Law Enforcement reported a pond in town has completely filled and is overflowing and running across the road. Depth of the water is unknown.
September 2010HailBedford$50,000Hail ranged from one half inch to two and one half inches in diameter.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindBedford$50,000no account filed
April 2002HailBedford$50,000no account filed
May 1999Tornado (F1)Bedford$50,000no account filed
May 1996FloodBedford$50,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindBedford$50,000no account filed
September 1993HailBedford$50,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBedford$30,000Taylor County Emergency Manager relayed roof damage occurred south of Highway 2 on Highland Ave.
April 2002HailBedford$30,000no account filed
July 1999FloodBedford$30,000no account filed
March 1996Thunderstorm WindBedford$30,000no account filed
June 2008Flash FloodBedford$25,000Rainfall of 1.75 inches was reported in less than an hour, causing extensive street flooding in Bedford. More than 6 inches of water was flowing through streets through the crossing of Highway 148.
July 2002HailBedford$25,000no account filed
May 2004HailBedford$20,000no account filed
August 2000Thunderstorm WindBedford$20,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBedford$15,000no account filed
May 2004HailBedford$15,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBedford$10,000Several tree limbs and power lines were downed throughout the town of Bedford.
August 2011HailBedford$10,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBedford$10,000no account filed
July 2002HailBedford$10,000no account filed
June 1998HailBedford$10,000no account filed
April 2024Tornado (EF0)Bedford$5,000This was a brief tornado which occurred west of Bedford moving due north just west of Highway 2 in Taylor County. This tornado did some low end damage to outbuildings before dissipating.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000High winds downed large tree branches in Bedford.
September 2010HailBedford$5,000Reported on Highway 2.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000Tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Bedford.
August 2011HailBedford$5,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
June 2002HailBedford$5,000no account filed
July 2002HailBedford$5,000no account filed
July 2002HailBedford$5,000no account filed
October 2002Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
September 1993Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000no account filed
April 2010Thunderstorm WindBedford$3,000no account filed
June 2006HailBedford$3,000no account filed
May 2006HailBedford$3,000no account filed
May 2004HailBedford$3,000no account filed
May 1996HailBedford$3,000no account filed
April 2011HailBedford$2,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBedford$2,000no account filed
May 2010Thunderstorm WindBedford$2,000no account filed
March 2006Thunderstorm WindBedford$2,000no account filed
May 2004HailBedford$2,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindBedford$2,000no account filed
July 2000LightningBedford$2,000no account filed
April 1999Thunderstorm WindBedford$2,000no account filed
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBedford$1,000Social media report with top of a large tree snapped. Time estimated from radar.

Every storm recorded in Taylor County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Ladoga6.5 miles11
Gravity6.6 miles8
Conway7.8 miles12
Platteville8.9 miles12
Siam9.1 miles11
Sharpsburg10.2 miles8
New Market10.4 miles11
Merle Junction10.4 miles8

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on BedfordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1922592The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 454471. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.