Bedford Town

Westchester County, New York

The town has three hamlets:

Bedford Hills — southeastern part of town.

Bedford Village

Katonah – in the northwest section of Bedford.

1680 – Town of Bedford founded. 22 Puritans from Stamford, Connecticut the three miles square "Hopp Ground" from chief Katonah and other Indians. Among other buildings, they constructed a gristmill along the Mianus River.

1697 – Bedford became part of Connecticut.

1700 – King William III of England made Bedford part of New York to settle a boundary dispute.

1775-1782 – American Revolution. After the Battle of White Plains, Bedford became the county seat of Westchester County.

1779 (July 11) – Bedford burned by the British.

post American Revolution to 1870 – Westchester had two alternating county seats: White Plains and Bedford.

1787 – the Court House in Bedford Village built, Westchester’s oldest government building.

1801  --  John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, remodeled a house for his retirement home in Katonah.

by 1812  --  a few families moved down the banks of the Cross River (just above its entrance into Croton River).  Squire Wood and John Burr Whitlock set up a mill and thus began "Whitlockville," (later Katonah). 

1847 – the railroad came to Bedford Hills, known then as Bedford Station.  It also came to Whitlockville. 

1852  --  the name of Whitlockville changed to Katonah in honor of the Indian chief.

1880's  --  dairying became a major industry of the area.  Katonah shipped two carloads of milk being shipped daily.  Other industries were an iron foundry and a silk mill. 

1897 – Katonah was moved to its present site to make way for the building of the Muscoot reservoir. 50 houses were moved. The hamlet is known for its Victorian architecture. It is also the home of Caramoor, Katonah Museum of Art and the John Jay Homestead.

1926  --  Eleanor Jay (Mrs. Arthur) Iselin made an addition (the large west wing) to the John Jay Homestead.

1927 – the Town House built in Bedford Hills (the government seat of Bedford).

1929-1939  --  Walter Tower Rosen and his wife Lucie Bigelow Dodge built Caramoor.  The Rosens furnished their mansion with European and the Far Eastern art treasures.

1958  --  Caramoor theater opened. 

1960s – Bedford Village’s Court House renovated.

1970  --  Caramoor museum created.

1971  -- the Caramoor mansion opened to the public.

1972 – the Bedford Village Historic District established. It is listed on both the New York State and the National Register of Historic Places.

1983 – Katonah’s Historic District designated. It is listed on the State and National registers of Historic Places. The district encompasses the Bedford Road area designed by landscape architects, G.S. and B.S. Olmstead.

2000 – Bedford had 18,133 residents, 97 percent white. The median household income was $120,000 dollars.

Sources:

The Town of Bedford, New York. http://www.bedfordny.info/html/home.html