America 250: Local Connections | 'Still the same foundation': Omni Bedford Springs steeped in history

Editor's note: This article is an installment in The Tribune- Democrat's ongoing U.S. Semiquincentennial project titled "America 250: Local Connections," about events and people that shaped the region in the years before and after the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, the nation's birthday. A new story will be published on the fourth Saturday of every month throughout the year.

BEDFORD, Pa. – Indigenous peoples, for generations, bathed in and drank from the mineral waters in the area that eventually became known as Bedford County.

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John Anderson, a practicing doctor, was intrigued by the purported healing properties, so in 1796, when the United States was a burgeoning young country, he purchased a 2,200-acre piece of land that contained the medicinal springs.

Anderson soon started treating patients. His business grew so large so quickly that by 1809 he had constructed three structures on the site, including The Stone Inn, to provide patients overnight accommodations.

Local residents, travelers and visiting dignitaries all dipped into the cleansing waters.

"He knew of the quality of the waters because of the Native Americans," said Jessica Sims, the retail and recreation manager for Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa.

"He had seen them, kind of learned the methods which they used. But then he actually went to school in Philadelphia to be a physician as well. So he took all of that knowledge and then made the Bedford Springs."

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Jessica Sims, the retail and recreation manager for Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa, talks about the history of Bedford Springs on April 7, 2026.

Anderson's creation, the Bedford Springs hotel, survives today, owned by Omni Hotels & Resorts, an international hotel company.

Bedford Springs is a modern resort, steeped in history and serving as a de facto museum, with lodging, dining, a pool, an acclaimed golf course, a pastoral setting and, of course, the springs.

Popular getaway

The proximity to Washington, D.C., has made the resort a popular getaway for government officials since the 19th century.

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Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa retail and recreation manager Jessica Sims points out a display of old coins that had been found at the resort in Bedford County on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

Twelve United States presidents – George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, James Buchanan, James Garfield, Dwight Eisenhower, William Taft, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush – visited Bedford Springs before, during or after their times in office. The Reagan Ballroom is named in that former president's honor.

When talking about the presidents' presence, Sims drew attention to a mid-1800s staircase in the main lobby.

"Those presidents have pretty much all walked up and down that staircase at some point in time," Sims said. "Yes, it's been restored, but it's still the same staircase. It's still the same foundation. In some cases, they tried to keep the railing, what they could. Essentially, we're looking at exactly where they stood."

Other famous people have visited the resort.

The U.S. Supreme Court justices spent time at Bedford Springs, escaping Washington's oppressive heat, while informally discussing the landmark Dred Scott v. Sandford case in which they ruled that the United States Constitution did not extend American citizenship to Black people of African descent.

‘Intriguing woman'

Bedford Springs served as the "Summer White House" for Buchanan, a Pennsylvania native, who served as the 15th president from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1861.

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The desk of former U.S. President James Buchanan on display at Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa in Bedford County on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Buchanan famously wrote the first Transatlantic telegraph from this desk to England's Queen Victoria in 1858.

He carried out his governmental duties, hosted officials and friends, bathed in the waters, rejuvenated his spirits and wrote correspondence at his 1790 Sheraton letter-desk that is still present today.

On Aug. 16 and 17, 1858, he received the first transatlantic telegraph communication from the United Kingdom's Queen Victoria, a 98-word message that took 16 hours to transmit, and then sent a reply.

While at the resort, Harriet Lane, Buchanan's niece, served as first lady, since he was a bachelor with no children.

Kris Schaale, author and member of the Bedford County Historical Society, described Lane as "a really intriguing woman" and "ahead of her time."

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Guests play soccer on the lawn at Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa in Bedford County on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

Schaale used Lane's life as part of her historical fiction novel "Summer of Meteors" that was set at Bedford Springs in 1859. Her book also includes the characters of a Quaker widow and an enslaved nursemaid, who were based on true people.

"I made a story up around it," Schaale said, "and, in doing so, was able to highlight a lot of local history that people I think don't know about."

Anti-slavery cause

Radical abolitionist John Brown, who led the Pottawatomie massacre of five pro-slavery settlers as part of the Bleeding Kansas fighting, likely came to the Bedford Springs region in the summer of 1859, possibly trying to garner support for his anti-slavery cause.

PHOTO GALLERY | Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa | America250

At that time, he was planning a raid on an armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, which is now part of West Virginia, hoping to incite a slave insurrection.

"Because of the nature of it, we cannot 100% say that John Brown was here," Sims said. "If you know the story of John Brown, it would have been super-risky for him to be here, especially with James Buchanan being here because, at that point, Bleeding Kansas had already happened, and so (there was) a bounty out on John Brown's head.

"But story says that he met people out in the woods to try to gain support for Harpers Ferry, and that would have happened the summer prior to Harpers Ferry, so we're thinking in June. Harpers Ferry happens in October. And then he dies in December."

Wartime diplomats

The resort was used as a Navy radio training school during World War II.

High-level Japanese wartime diplomats, including General Hiroshi Ōshima, the nation's ambassador to Germany, were also held at the site from 1943 to 1945.

Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa | America250

Photograph of Bedford Mineral Springs from 1885 shown here at Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa in Bedford County on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

Bedford Springs remained a resort, but, over the years, the site started to lose popularity and gradually decayed. It was shuttered in 1986.

Walls crumbled. Ceilings collapsed. Animals lived inside. Floodwaters damaged the lobby. People entered and took out historic artifacts. It resembled an "old, spooky mansion" in Sims' words.

Bedford Resort Partners Limited eventually acquired the property for $8 million in 1998 and invested $120 million in its restoration. The resort reopened in July 2007.

"By capturing it all and restoring it, it's made downtown Bedford one of the top (small towns) in the United States," Sims said. "We continue to just grow and grow here in Bedford County. That's a proud fact. And this resort really leads the way for that."

Bedford Springs Resort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1984.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 7:58 AM.