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.

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.

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 decree 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.

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.

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 2010 Census are available from the Westchester County Department of Planning's website: http://planning.westchestergov.com/census-statistics