About Bedford, NY

Bedford is a town in Westchester County, New York, USA. The population was 17,335 at the 2010 census.

The town of Bedford is located in the northeastern part of Westchester County, and contains the three hamlets of Bedford Hills, Bedford, and Katonah.

History

The town of Bedford was founded on December 23, 1680, when 22 Puritans from Stamford, Connecticut, purchased a tract of land three miles square known as the “Hopp Ground” from Chief Katonah and several other Native Americans for coats, blankets, wampum and cloth.

Bedford was made a part of Connecticut in 1697 when a patent fixed the boundaries as a six-mile square. Only when KingWilliam III of England issued a royal decree in 1700 settling a boundary dispute did Bedford become part of New York.

The town served as the county seat of Westchester County during the American Revolutionary War after the Battle of White Plains, until Bedford was burned by the British in July 1779. After the Revolution, Bedford was made one of two seats of county government, alternating with White Plains, until 1870. Westchester County’s oldest government building is the Court House in Bedford village, which was built in 1787 and renovated in the 1960s.

The Bedford Village Historic District, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Palmer-Lewis Estate, and The Woodpile are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.4 square miles, of which 37.2 square miles is land and 2.2 square miles, or 5.70%, is water. The town is bordered to the west by Mount Kisco, to the south by Armonk in the town of North Castle, to the north by Lewisboro, and to the east by Pound Ridge.

Landmarks

Bedford has a few minor landmarks, most of them centered on the Bedford Green, a small patch of green space at the center of the historical district (along Route 22). There is a small graveyard dating back to the founding of the town; the old one-room stone schoolhouse; and a few colonial-era houses, still lived in, which are kept painted white with black or green shutters.

PHOTO: Bedford Oak, July 2012

The Bedford Free Library is located in Bedford, on the Village Green, and is a member of the Westchester Library System. Bedford Hills and Katonah also have libraries which are members of the same system.

Also along Route 22, at Hook Road, there is a large 300-plus-year-old oak tree known as the Bedford Oak.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1790 2,470 —
1820 2,432 —
1830 2,750 13.1%
1840 2,822 2.6%
1850 3,207 13.6%
1860 3,639 13.5%
1870 3,697 1.6%
1880 3,731 0.9%
1890 3,291 −11.8%
1900 3,486 5.9%
1910 5,629 61.5%
1920 5,905 4.9%
1930 8,653 46.5%
1940 9,248 6.9%
1950 10,888 17.7%
1960 14,656 34.6%
1970 18,329 25.1%
1980 15,137 −17.4%
1990 16,906 11.7%
2000 18,133 7.3%
2010 17,335 −4.4%
Est. 2014 17,910 3.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,133 people, 5,731 households, and 4,395 families residing in the town. The population density was 486.9 people per square mile. There were 6,020 housing units at an average density of 161.6 per square mile (62.4/km²). The racial/ethnic makeup of the town was 87.50% White, 7.12% Black, 1.98% Asian, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.57% of the population. 0.09% ethnic Native American. 0.08% ethnic Pacific Islander and 1.88% from other ethnicities.

There were 5,731 households out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.5% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.3% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $100,053, and the median income for a family was $118,820. Males had a median income of $88,561 versus $47,468 for females. The per capita income for the town was $53,046. About 2.4% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those of age 65 or over.

Local media

The Record-Review, a weekly newspaper, reports on local issues in Bedford and Pound Ridge. The newspaper began publishing in 1995.

All About Bedford: Connecting Our Community With a Click– the most local of news sites on the Town of Bedford, its people and its schools

Communities and locations in Bedford

  • Bedford Corners – A small residential area neighboring the village of Mount Kisco in the southern part of town.
  • Bedford Hills – A hamlet in the western part of the town, just south of Katonah. The historic Richard H. Mandel House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
  • Bedford – A hamlet in the southeast part of the town, commonly known as Bedford Village. The Bedford Village Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
  • Katonah – A hamlet at the north town line.

Notable people