Russell House
Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
This house, built in 1816 by the Hon. James Russell, first burgess of Bedford, is considered a fine example of Georgian style of the Post-Colonial period.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Built in 1816 by James Russell, the first burgess (chief elected official) of the newly organized borough of Bedford, this house survives as a handsome example of the Georgian architectural style that lingered into the early republic. Bedford had grown from a rough frontier outpost on the road west into a settled county seat, and homes like this reflected the ambitions of the men who organized its civic life.
Why it matters
It captures the moment a frontier gateway town matured into an ordered community with elected leaders and permanent, dignified architecture.
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Related people
- · James Russell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Squares
Bedford, PA · est. 1951
When the Penn family had their Manor of Bedford surveyed in 1761, they set aside these public squares as property of the town itself. It was a piece of deliberate colonial town planning on the Pennsylvania frontier, carried out by the heirs of William Penn during the proprietary era, laying out communal ground for a settlement that guarded the route across the mountains.
Bedford Village
Bedford, PA · est. 1947
Founded around 1750 as Raystown, this frontier settlement guarded the wilderness gateway to the Ohio country. In 1758 the British raised Fort Bedford here and used it as a staging base for the Forbes and Bouquet expeditions that drove the French from the forks of the Ohio during the French and Indian War. A generation later, in 1794, President Washington reviewed his militia army here on the march against the Whiskey Rebellion.
Bedford Village
Bedford Township, PA · est. 1947
Founded around 1750 as Raystown, this frontier settlement guarded the wilderness gateway to the Ohio country. In 1758 the British raised Fort Bedford here and used it as a staging base for the Forbes and Bouquet expeditions that drove the French from the forks of the Ohio during the French and Indian War. A generation later, in 1794, President Washington reviewed his militia army here on the march against the Whiskey Rebellion.
Bedford Village
Bedford Township, PA · est. 1947
Founded around 1750 as Raystown, this frontier settlement guarded the wilderness gateway to the Ohio country. In 1758 the British raised Fort Bedford here and used it as a staging base for the Forbes and Bouquet expeditions that drove the French from the forks of the Ohio during the French and Indian War. A generation later, in 1794, President Washington reviewed his militia army here on the march against the Whiskey Rebellion.