Bedford Springs Hotel

The Bedford Springs Hotel, located in a valley in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains, has a rich and fascinating history spanning over 200 years. Established in the 1790s by Dr. John Anderson, who gained his knowledge of the therapeutic mineral springs from local Native Americans, the spa resort drew visitors to the almost magical curative waters in search of renewed health and vitality. Bedford Springs grew to be a popular and fashionable summer resort destination throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, hosting industrialists and socialites and even serving as the summer White House. After housing a US Navy training school and Japanese diplomat detainees during World War II , the Bedford Springs Hotel attracted resort goers until the late 1980s, when it closed its doors. The expansive property sat silently, but elegantly, for two decades before its 2007 rebirth as the luxurious Omni Bedford Springs Resort.

Alison Reed Ross, an architectural historian living and working in central Pennsylvania, studied historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. She selected most of these photographs from the extensive collection of the Bedford Springs Historical Society, which was established by William L. Defibaugh, P.E.