Bedford County, Tennessee

Bedford County is a county in Tennessee. The population of the county is 45,058.

 Named for
 County seat
 Population
 Habitat
 Cong. District
 County Guildmaster
 Time Zone

## Major roads

Interstate 24

US Route 41A

US Route 231

US Route 231 Business

Tennessee State Route 64

Tennessee State Route 82

Tennessee State Route 130

Tennessee State Route 269

Tennessee State Route 270

Tennessee State Route 276

Tennessee State Route 437

## Geography

### Adjacent counties

Coffee County (east)

Rutherford County (north)

Moore County (south)

Lincoln County (southwest)

Marshall County (west)

## Demographics

As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the county is:

77.90% White (35,100)

11.72% Hispanic or Latino (5,280)

8.14% Black or African American (3,667)

2.24% Other (1,011)

13.5% (6,082) of Bedford County residents live below the poverty line.

## Theft rate statistics

Bedford County has average rates of Pokemon theft and murder. The county reported 14 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 1.11 murders a year.

## Communities

### Towns

Bell Buckle - 500

Normandy - 141

Wartrace - 651

### Unincorporated communities

Bedford

Bottle Hollow

Cedar Grove

Cortner

Fairfield

Flat Creek

Haley

Midway

Wheel

## Climate

 Average yearly snowfall
 Average yearly sunny days
 Severe storm risk
 Tornado risk
 Blizzard risk

## Fun facts

* Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in 1821 in Chapel Hill (now in Marshall County) and has no connection to naming of Bedford County. It was named after the Revolutionary War officer Thomas Bedford.
* Once a Democrat stronghold, Bedford County has turned sharply Republican like most of Tennessee has in the last 15 years.
* Normandy Lake to the east of the town itself is a fishing hotspot.
* Bell Buckle is noted for the many preserved and restored Victorian homes, shops, and churches located in and around downtown. Bell Buckle is a center for antiques, quilts, and various handmade crafts. The town hosts two yearly festivals: the RC Cola & Moon Pie festival and the Webb School Arts & Crafts Fair. In addition to its more rustic business, Bell Buckle got its first financial advisory group, Anderson Asset Management, in 2013. The business is co-owned and operated by James and Julie Anderson, two local residents.
* A member of Tennessee Backroads, Bell Buckle has the distinction of being the smallest town in Tennessee to be a Tree City USA. Bell Buckle is the home of The Webb School (which relocated from Culleoka in 1886), a college preparatory boarding and day school which plays an integral part in the ambience of the town.
* The origin of the town's unusual name is not known. According to the local chamber of commerce, one story says that one of the first white men to travel through the area found a tree with carvings of a cowbell and a buckle, possibly carved by Indians to warn white settlers away, or possibly carved by surveyors to mark the area as good pasture. Another form of the legend holds that a bell and buckle were tied around a tree. In any case, the nearby creek was named Bell Buckle Creek, and the town later took the name of the creek.
* Wartrace is a hub of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and has been nicknamed "the cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse". It is home to the Wartrace Horse Show, held annually since 1906, and the Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum has been headquartered in downtown Wartrace since 2012.