Block
Bedford, Ohio
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Bedford City. It lies in ZIP code area 44146. The Survey maps it on the Shaker Heights quadrangle. 13,149 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 948 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBedford grew from 13,074 to 13,149 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. 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 13,074 | |
| 2020 | 13,149 | +75 (+1%) |
Then and now
1903 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 91 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Compare 1903 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 sheetsMatched 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.
- 1903 USGS Cleveland quadrangle1:62500
- 1903 USGS Cleveland quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Shaker Heights quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS Cleveland quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Cleveland quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Cleveland quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Cleveland quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Shaker Heights quadrangle1:24000
- 1963 USGS Shaker Heights quadrangle1:24000
- 1963 USGS Shaker Heights quadrangle1:24000
- 1963 USGS Shaker Heights quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Cleveland South quadrangle1:100000
- 1994 USGS Cleveland South quadrangle1:100000
- 1994 USGS Shaker Heights quadrangle1:24000
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Bedford city, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.
Physicians And The Press
Dr. J. M. Turner, who came about 1828 and lived a little south of the village, was the first physician and was in practice about five years. Dr. Charles Goodrich came about 1830, but fell a victim to the cholera in 1832; Dr. J. P. Robinson was in practice from January, 1882, till his removal to Cleveland in 1865.
In the county-history sources
7,074 words on this townshipHistory of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870 names this settlement in its chapter on Bedford City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Tuts township lies on the Summit county line, east of Independence and south of Warrensville. On the east it is bonnded by the township of Solon. It is known in the survey as township number six in range eleven. When it was organized for civil purposes, in 1828, it received its present name at the suggestion of Daniel Benedict, in compliment to the place of his nativity - Bedford, Connecticut.
Passage source: History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870.
Along the streams the surface of the township is sumewhat broken, but in other parts it is generally level. Being also quite elevated, Bedford is a very healthy township. Heavy forests originally covered the ground, but these have been generally removed, although the appearance of the country is yet pleasantly diversified by bodies of timber which have been allowed to remain in their primitive beauty. The soil is variable, but is usually a light loam. It is generally free from stones, and may be cultivated with ease. It is fertile, and yields the ordinary products of this part of the State, but dairying has, to a large extent, become the chief industrial pursuit of the inhabitants.
Passage source: History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870.
About 1810 the township was surveyed into one hundred lots, numbered from the northwest, but no speedy attempt at settlement followed. In 1813 Elijah Nobles settled on Tinker's ereek near the line of Independence, and was probably the first pioneer of Bedford. He was a man of loose business habits, and soon found himself reduced to extreme poverty with avery heavy incumbrance on his land. As it did not seem possible for him to retain his home there, one of the Hudsons, of Hudson, who was related to him, offered him a part of lot forty-six (at the center), if he would make certain improvements on it. With this purpose he moved to what is now the village of Bedford, in November, 1815, and was the first man who lived there. His neighbors in Independence turned out to the number of eighteen, and in a single day built him a cabin from the trees growing on the spot, leaving the family there at night nearly three miles from any other occupied house. Nobles remained all winter at the center, but the following spring he returned to his old place on the creek, and not long after removed to another part of the State. A part of his property on Tinker's creek passed into the hands of Adams & Starr, who built there the first mills in the township, and another part became the home of Cardee Parker who opened the first tavern, (although Nobles may have entertained oecasional travelers.) Parker's tavern became quite famous in its way, and after his death, was continued by his widow, who was widely known as Mother Parker. After the canal was built she removed to Independence, and opened a public house there.
Passage source: History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Bedford City - it names this place 29 more 29 times.
Fires near this place
2 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Bedford between 1993 and 2000, burning about 7 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 September 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Cuyahoga Valley National Park | VANACHEK |
| 28 March 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.3 acres | Cuyahoga Valley National Park | STONE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 2,174 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,174 specimens collected within 10 miles of Bedford between 1876 and 1975: 2,081 Animalia, 52 Plantae, 34 Fungi, 6 Protozoa, 1 incertae sedis. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Huryn, A. D. Selby, A. Hall and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Osmunda claytoniana L. | 1894 | Winkler, H.J. | Cleveland. |
 | Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw. | 1897 | Winkler, H.J. | Woods, Cleveland. |
 | Claytonia virginica L. | 1897 | Watson,J.R. s.n. [1897-04] | [label: North Ohio Flora. J.R. Watson, Berea, O.] Cuyahoga Co. |
 | Dendroica caerulescens caerulescens (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) | 1876 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Dendroica castanea (A.Wilson, 1810) | 1876 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Dendroica fusca (Statius Müller, 1776) | 1876 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Dendroica striata (J.R.Forster, 1772) | 1876 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Seiurus aurocapilla aurocapilla (Linnaeus, 1766) | 1876 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Baeolophus bicolor bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) | 1877 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 1808 | 1877 | A. Hall | unspecified |
 | Betula L. | 1888 | Jasliafro | Cleveland; Lake View |
 | Cryptotaenia canadensis (L.) DC. | 1890 | R. H. Ingraham | Miles |
All 2,174 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Bedford: 4 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Zirconium, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydraulic Shale Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Rockside Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Zircoa Refractories/ Solon, Ohio | Zirconium | Unknown | ||
| Leone Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Leone Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Terra Visa Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Terra Visa Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bedford in 12 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 5 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Hail | Bedford | $1,000,000 | Multiple reports of hail up to golf ball-size to slightly larger than hen egg-size in Bedford. For example, received a picture of a 2.25 diameter hailstone, measured with a ruler, in Bedford. Also, wind-driven severe hail damaged some of the siding and a window of a house in the town. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bedford's mayor estimated the severe hailstorm caused $1 million in damage to city hall and the surrounding city government complex alone. |
| November 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bedford | $15,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and several large limbs. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bedford | $10,000 | Several trees and power lines down reported from thunderstorm winds. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bedford | $5,000 | Large trees downed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bedford | $3,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Bedford | - | Hail up to hen egg-size about one-mile NNE of Bedford. |
| August 2023 | Flash Flood | Bedford | - | Multiple road closures in and around Solon due to flash flooding. Road closures include US-422 at Brainard Road and Bainbridge Road near Harper Road. Radar estimated 1.75 to 2.25 inches of rainfall in a three hour period, with most of the rain falling in a 60 to 90 minute period. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Bedford | - | Hail up to half dollar-size in Bedford. |
| March 2020 | Flash Flood | Bedford | - | At the USGS Tinkers Creek gage at Bedford, Ohio (No. 04207200), on March 29th the Creek crested at 530 am with a stage of 8.44 feet and a flow of 4690 cfs as a 10-year flood, which put it just below the flood of February 28, 2011. Backwater from the Cuyahoga River exasperated flooding near the confluence near Valley View. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bedford | - | Numerous trees down in Bedford. One tree down in Oakwood. |
| June 2007 | Hail | Bedford | - | Nickel size hail was observed. |
| July 1999 | Hail | Bedford | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glendale | 0.4 miles | 14 | |
| Bedford Heights | 1.7 miles | 14 | |
| Maple Heights | 2.2 miles | 14 | |
| Randall | 2.3 miles | 14 | |
| Walton Hills | 2.3 miles | 15 | |
| Oakwood | 2.4 miles | 15 | |
| Evergreen Manor | 2.5 miles | 17 | |
| Cowans (historical) | 2.7 miles | 17 |
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 Bedford | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q813866 | The 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 1060854. 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.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
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.