Bedford Springs Hotel - History

History

In 1796, Nicholas Shauffler discovered a high mineral content in the natural freshwater springs located on the property of Fredrick Naugel, outside of Bedford, Pennsylvania. These springs were reputed to have ‘healing powers” by the Native Americans who had come to this spot to drink from and bathe in the waters for centuries. Doctor John Anderson, then practicing in the town of Bedford, purchased the land containing the springs in 1798 and proceeded to build bathing facilities for his patients; thus starting the tradition of people traveling to experience the waters of the Bedford springs and setting the foundation for what is today Bedford Springs Resort, an upscale destination, located just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The popularity and reputation of the Dr. Anderson’s treatments grew throughout the early 19th Century and by 1809, there were three buildings on the site, including The Stone House, Crockford and a precursor to the Evitt House. According to a travelogue by Joshua Galpin in 1809, these buildings included a “large frame lodging house and several smaller ones for families – warm and cold baths and a billiard room.” In 1824, Bedford Springs was hailed as the “Montpelier of America” in a column in the July edition of the National Gazette & Library Register, which noted with praise the waters, accommodations, activities, food and wine. The popularity of the resort benefited from the emphasis on outdoor life in the mid-nineteenth century as east coast American cities became increasingly industrialized and polluted, and from the establishment of stops in Bedford for the B&O and Pennsylvania Railroads beginning in 1872, providing easy accessibility from cities such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York.

Bedford Springs became an attraction for politicians, and, in addition to serving as the "Summer White House" for President James Buchanan from 1857 to 1861, also served as a getaway and meeting place for other presidents such as William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor, as well as a multitude of senators and congressmen, and their families. The first transatlantic cable sent from England to the United States was received by President Buchanan at the hotel on August 12, 1858.

The decades of the 1870s through the 1890s, the "golden age" of America's grand resorts, saw the "resort gold standard" set at Bedford Springs. A series of colorful spring houses, bridges, and gates dotted the expansive grounds, and a "serpentine trail" led party excursions from one spring to the next. In the beginning of the 20th century, as medicine and health-awareness advanced, the validity of the Springs' healing powers decreased slightly, but the hotel still flourished, and in 1905, a major renovation of the complex included a monumental double-decked colonnade, which connected the hotel's main dining room to a columned pavilion at the Magnesia Springs across Shober's Run, as well as a new building with a spring-fed indoor pool, reportedly the first such facility in the United States at the time it was built.

In the 1930s, the hotel's resident physician, Dr. William E. Fitch, established the "Bedford Cure," a health regimen that required a three-week stay at the resort, which still operated successfully throughout the 1930s and 1940s. During World War II, the hotel and its grounds were used by the U.S. Navy as the Naval Training School (Radio) and then later as a detention center for interned Japanese diplomats.

The decade of the 1950s saw numerous improvements and renovations to the property, including the installation of modern environmental controls and sprinkler systems. Bedford Springs was also open year-round for the first time in 1950. The hotel continued to operate for the next three decades, highlighted by then California Governor Ronald Reagan’s stay in 1975, making him the seventh current, former or future president to spend time at Bedford Springs. However tastes in leisure travel had changed significantly over the years and the property eventually shut its doors in 1986. Two years later, a flash flood severely damaged several buildings at Bedford Springs and the site fell into disrepair. Even so, the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Then in 1998, the property was purchased by Bedford Resort Partners Limited for $8 million dollars and the massive undertaking of restoring Bedford Springs to its former prestige began.