Bedford County
Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Formed on March 9, 1771 from Cumberland County, it first embraced most of western Pennsylvania. Named for its county seat (formerly Raystown) incorporated 1795. In 1758, Fort Bedford was erected here, and Forbes Road - to become a major highway west - was built.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
One of Pennsylvania's oldest western counties, Bedford was formed in 1771 and once stretched across much of the state's frontier. In 1758, during the French and Indian War, Fort Bedford rose here as a key link in the British campaign against the French, and the Forbes Road was cut through the wilderness to reach the Ohio country. That military road became one of the great early highways carrying settlers and commerce west.
Why it matters
Fort Bedford and the Forbes Road opened the trans-Allegheny frontier, making this a hinge point between wartime conquest and the westward migration that followed.
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Related events
- · Forbes Expedition
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Forbes Road, 1758, Fort Bedford to Fort Duquesne - Fort Bedford-Raystown (PLAQUE)
Bedford, PA · est. 1930
Fort Bedford, built at the frontier settlement of Raystown, served as the great supply depot and mustering ground for General John Forbes' 1758 campaign against Fort Duquesne. Here an army of nearly eight thousand men gathered before setting out westward toward the forks of the Ohio. The fort anchored the eastern end of the road that still bears Forbes' name.
Fraser Tavern
Bedford, PA · est. 1952
As General Forbes's army pushed toward the Ohio in 1758, frontier settlements sprang up in its wake. Here John Fraser and his wife established an inn and trading post that same year, feeding officers at nearby Fort Raystown, the outpost that grew into Bedford. Fraser was no ordinary tavernkeeper—he had served as a guide and interpreter for a young Colonel George Washington in the tense years before the war.
Forbes Road, 1758, Fort Bedford to Fort Duquesne - The Forks (PLAQUE)
Napier Township, PA · est. 1930
At this spot two frontier military roads parted ways: the older path cut by Colonel James Burd in 1755 and the Forbes Road blazed in 1758. From here the Forbes Road bent southwestward toward the Shawnee Cabins encampment, only a few miles from Fort Bedford. The junction marks how successive campaigns layered their routes across the Pennsylvania mountains.
Forbes Road
Napier Township, PA · est. 1947
During the French and Indian War, Britain raced to seize the Forks of the Ohio from the French. In 1755 Colonel James Burd hacked a supply road through this Allegheny wilderness, and in 1758 General John Forbes drove a new military road westward toward Fort Ligonier and, ultimately, Fort Duquesne. This quiet Bedford County intersection is where the later Forbes Road split from Burd's earlier trace, sending the army deeper into the mountains.