Bedford County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is the town of Bedford, which was an independent city from 1968 until rejoining the county in 2013.
Seal
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, for whom the county was named
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions. County towns usually serve a similar function in Ireland, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom.
The old courthouse in Centreville, Maryland, the county seat of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, U.S.
Miaoli, the county seat of Miaoli County in Taiwan
Allentown, Pennsylvania, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and county seat of Lehigh County
Many county seats in the United States feature a historic courthouse, such as this one in Renville County, Minnesota.