Penrhyn Quarry suffered a three-year strike led by the North Wales Quarrymen's Union between 1900 and 1903 – the longest industrial dispute in British history.

Most of the town is to the east and northeast of the road, with housing packed onto the hillside in irregular rows, built on the commons.

Zip World Velocity in Penrhyn Quarry is the longest zipline in Europe, at just over 1,600 metres (0.99 miles) long, and brings the town hundreds of visitors.

By the 1850s it was clear that the area needed more formal structures of local government, particularly to supply water and sewers, maintain the streets, and regulate the town's further development.

The town has 40 Grade II listed buildings, including three pubs, in addition to the substantial and imposing Grade I listed Nonconformist Jerusalem Chapel[18] The upper parts of Carneddi, Cilfodan and Tan y Foel owe more to stone quarrying on the nearby hills rather than slate quarrying that supported the lower end of the town.

At the eastern limits, the town is bounded by the rising land of the Carneddau mountains which form some of the more remote landscapes of Snowdonia.

Much of Bethesda once consisted of discrete villages such as Gerlan, Rachub, Tregarth, Llanllechid and Braichmelyn; their names are retained as districts of the town.

and "about her") was based on a fictitious women's rugby team in Bethesda, and many of the location shots were filmed in the area.

In June 2012 Tabernacl (Bethesda) Cyf., a non-profit co-operative based in the town was awarded a grant of around £1 million to renovate Neuadd Ogwen, a performance venue on the High Street.

[citation needed] Jam sessions and small home studios abounded alongside a burgeoning pub rock scene.

As well as the now well-established 'Pesda Roc' festival, Bethesda has nurtured the Welsh language bands Celt, Maffia Mr Huws and experimentalists Y Jeycsyn Ffeif.