Bedford is a small city of around 13,000 people in southern Indiana, best known as the self-proclaimed Limestone Capital of the World. The pale grey oolitic limestone quarried from the hills around town has shaped some of the most recognizable buildings in the United States — the Empire State Building, the Pentagon, the National Cathedral in Washington, and the facade of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum all owe their stone to Lawrence County.
The limestone heritage runs deep here. Drive out of town in any direction and you will find old quarry pits, stone cutting mills, and yards full of freshly hewn blocks. The local cemeteries, particularly Green Hill Cemetery on the west side of town, are worth a quiet hour: craftsmen who spent their lives shaping stone put the same skill into the headstones of their own. One remarkable example is a full-scale carving of a mason's desk, left exactly as he had it at the moment he died — papers, tools, and all.
Downtown is built around the Courthouse Square, a National Register historic district of brick storefronts and the heavy 1931 limestone courthouse. The Indiana Limestone Company building and the Land of Limestone exhibit tell the story of the industry that built the town. Just south, Bluespring Caverns is the longest navigable underground river in the country.
Bedford sits along the East Fork of the White River, surrounded by the gentle karst hills of the Mitchell Plain. It makes a natural stopping point for travelers heading to Hoosier National Forest or Spring Mill State Park, a short drive to the east.