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The Bedford Oak
has stood as a symbol of the Town of Bedford's strength, beauty and heritage,
predating, some think, even the beginning of the Town itself.
A white
oak, with branches spanning approximately 130 feet and a girth more than 23 feet,
it is thought by some to have been 200 years old when the 22 men from Stamford
purchased the Hopp Ground from the Indians in 1680. In
1977, with construction planned on nearby property, a group of Bedford citizens
raised money to purchase that property, providing additional protection for the
tree. Not only were they successful in raising enough to purchase the property,
but the remaining funds provided a fund for the tree's care.
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| Our
Heritage: On
December 23, 1680, 22 men from Stamford, Connecticut, founded the Town of Bedford
when they purchased, fur coats, blankets, wampum and cloth, a tract of land three
miles square known as the "Hopp Ground" from Chief Katonah and several other Indians.
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These "proprietors" from Stamford were New England Puritans who promptly set about
to plan their new settlement providing for a meetinghouse, gristmill on the Mianus
River and burying ground. Today's Village Green is one-third its original size
but the graveyard and surrounding principal streets remain substantially as they
were originally planned in 1681.
Bedford
was part of Connecticut in 1697 when a patent fixed the boundaries as a six-mile
square and it wasn't until England's King William issued a royal degree in 1700,
to settle a boundary dispute, that Bedford became part of New York. The
Town's importance grew during the Colonial period and served as the wartime Westchester
County seat during the Revolutionary War after the Battle of White Plains and
until Bedford was burned by the British on July 11, 1779. After the Revolution,
Bedford became one of two seats of County government, alternating with White Plains
until 1870. The Court House in Bedford Village, built in 1787 and renovated in
the 1960s, is Westchester County's oldest government building.
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Three distinct hamlets,
each with its own personality and rich history, make up the Town of Bedford.
Bedford
Village
The
original 1680 Bedford settlement was in Bedford Village in the southeastern portion
of the Town, with its Village Green and historic buildings dating to the 18th
and early 19th centuries. Among these are the 1787 Court House and several homes
built after the British burned the village during the Revolution. In 1972, the
Bedford Village Historic District was established by local ordinance and is listed
on both the New York State and the National Register of Historic Places. The burying
ground, established in 1681, was apparently still in use after the Colonial period
as the latest headstone dates to 1885. A museum in the Court House is open to
the public. Katonah
Katonah, in the northwestern part of Bedford, saw its Historic District, in
1983, listed on the State and National registers of Historic Places. This district
encompasses the Bedford Road area, a section of the hamlet designed by landscape
architects, G.S. and B.S. Olmstead. Noted for its Victorian architecture, Katonah
now stands somewhat south of where the original hamlet was located and before
it was obliged to move in the late 1890s to make way for the expansion of the
New York City watershed when the Muscoot Reservoir was built. Fifty houses were
moved to their present sites in the hamlet. Katonah is widely known as home to
Caramoor, Katonah Museum of Art and the John Jay Homestead, retirement home of
John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. Bedford
Hills
Once
known as Bedford Station when the railroad was built in 1847, Bedford Hills extends
from its bustling business center at the railroad station to farms and estates
as it spreads eastward along Harris, Babbitt and Bedford Center roads and south
along the busy Route 117 business corridor toward Mt. Kisco. This hamlet is the
site of the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, the largest women's prison in
New York State. Bedford Hills is also the seat of Town government and home to
the Town House, built in 1927, and several other Town buildings where the Police
Department and Town offices are located.
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| The
Town of Bedford, with its 39.3 square miles encompassing the hamlets of Bedford
Village, Bedford Hills and Katonah, is situated in northern Westchester County
with a 2000 census of 18,133 residents. Details
of the 2000 Census are available from the Westchester County Department of Planning's
website: www.westchestergov.com/planning/ |
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