In May of 1754, Bedford County was officially established, formed from part of Lunenburg County,

The first court was held at the home of Matthew Talbot, who lived near William Callaway, an early settler who was to become one of the county's most prominent citizens.

By August of that year, Callaway had decided to donate 100 acres of nearby land for the construction of a town.

He also offered, and was commissioned to build, a timber prison and a "rough building to serve as a courthouse."

In 1761, lots for the town were laid out on a grid pattern with two parallel avenues crossing a main street. These lots were ordered by the court to be half-acres "each as long again as wide" and to be sold by lottery for 1 pound, 1 shilling and 8 pence.

A provision was included with the plan that stipulated purchasers were to "build a frame house twenty by sixteen on each lot within one year after purchasing the same, and a brick or stone chimney within four years. If the owner failed to meet these obligations, the land reverted to the county." It also stipulated that the town be called New London.

In July of 1766, the court ordered a more permanent structure for the court on Lot 10 of the town plan.

New London Towne grew quickly, and by the start of the American Revolution, New London already had been established as the western-most center on a major trade route from Virginia to the Western frontier. It was situated along what would become the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike (U.S. 460) near Bedford and Forest. The turnpike was the main route westward from Tidewater to the frontier of western Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

New London also was a regional supply center for plantations. Its strategic location attracted the attention of the Continental Army, and the town became a military supply center. During the Revolution, it boasted an arsenal, muster grounds, arms magazine, laboratory, prison and several gun-repair shops.

In its prime, New London was the foremost trading center in frontier Virginia. It included some 70 or 80 houses, several stores and mills, a prison, a county courthouse and an important U.S. arsenal. The town was frequented by leading national figures, including Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, General Nathaniel Greene, the Marquise de Lafayette and Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson's Poplar Forest plantation was located just three miles north of New London. Henry, who lived nearby, argued one of his most famous court cases there. Andrew Jackson passed triumphantly through New London on his return from the Battle of New Orleans and is said to have made the town a preferred stopover on his later travels between the White House and his Hermitage Plantation in Tennessee.

After Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, New London became a storage depot and a halt was put to cartridge and arms production. The arsenal partially was removed to Harper's Ferry and the town's economy suffered. To make matters worse, Campbell County was carved from Bedford County in 1781 and a new county seat was established for both. These losses threw New London into a steady decline that was exacerbated by the growth of nearby Lynchburg.

Early attempts to revive the town included the establishment of schools such as the New London Academy in 1795 and the Roland Academy for girls in 1812.

New London Academy was erected a mile west of what today is Forest on land donated by John Callaway. Thomas Jefferson believed the academy to be one of the best and took care to gain admission for his grandson, Francis Eppes.

Today, New London Academy, the oldest secondary school in the South, serves as a public elementary school. The Roland Academy, meanwhile, was erected on the lot across from the courthouse. It closed in 1822, but the building that housed the academy and later served as a hotel remains.

Beginning in the 1850s, New London became known for a different reason.

Recognizing the popularity of alum, a chemical compound, and its healing powers, residents of New London, including tavern-keeper Peregrine Echols, began bottling and selling alum water from a nearby spring.

The town's name was changed from New London to Bedford Alum Springs to attract tourists, and in 1876 a large resort complete with rows of cottages, a water fountain, a brick-lined path of Osage orange trees leading to the springs and a grand semicircular drive was built.

The resort survived into the early 20th century as a getaway for the well-to-do, including many silent film stars. The alum fascination eventually died, as did the business, however the main hotel still stands as a private residence along Alum Springs Road.

Although New London may not have lived up to Jefferson's expectation of a hub rivaling Charlottesville or Richmond, it will be known for proximity to a U.S. founding father and president, its rich colonial history and its reputation as a business and social center during the first half of the 19th century.

Friends of New London, Va., provided information for this article.