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History · Bedford Hills

Bedford Hills’ post office opened in 1910, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1955 on.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bedford Hills’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bedford Hills began

When was Bedford Hills founded?

1910

The Bedford Hills post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 3,239116 years
Founding year: the first Bedford Hills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bedford Hills’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bedford Hills’ homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bedford Hills’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bedford Hills’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChilde Hassam, Bedford Hills, 1908, oil…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Bedford Hills came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bedford Hills.

Read it all →

When the railroad was built in 1847, Bedford Hills was known as Bedford Station. Bedford Hills extends from a business center at the railroad station to farms and estates, eastward along Harris, Babbitt and Bedford Center roads and south along the Route 117 business corridor up to Mt. Kisco. Bedford Hills is the seat of government of the town of Bedford. The Town House, built in 1927, and Town buildings containing the Police Department and Town offices are located in Bedford Hills.

The Richard H. Mandel House, designed by Edward Durell Stone, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bedford Hills, 1908 to 1955

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908In the archiveChilde Hassam, Bedford Hills, 1908, oil on canvas. Collection of the Akron Art Museum
  3. 1921In the archive"Fenimore," James Stetson Metcalfe house, Bedford Hills, New York. Hillside terracing to …
  4. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bedford Hills, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s3 items
Childe Hassam, Bedford Hills, 1908, oil on canvas. Collection of the Akron Art Museum1908Childe Hassam, Bedford Hills, 1908, oil on canvas. Co…"Fenimore," James Stetson Metcalfe house, Bedford Hills, New York. Hillside terracing to Lake Marie1921"Fenimore," James Stetson Metcalfe house, Bedford Hil…"Fenimore," James Stetson Metcalfe house, Bedford Hills, New York. Swimming pool1921"Fenimore," James Stetson Metcalfe house, Bedford Hil…
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Bedford Hills NY; Modern Post Office2018Bedford Hills NY; Modern Post OfficeSMPnRoad-GreenBridge2013SMPnRoad-GreenBridgeNY117sRoad-SawMillRiverPkwySigns2013NY117sRoad-SawMillRiverPkwySigns
On the map

Bedford Hills on the map, 1955 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bedford Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bedford Hills on the 1955 USGS mapBedford Hills on the 1971 USGS mapBedford Hills on the 1998 USGS map1955Mount Kisco sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bedford Hills.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Childe Hassam, Bedford Hills, 1908, oil on canvas. Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Retake this viewChilde Hassam, Bedford Hills, 1908, oil on canvas. Collection of the Akron Art Museum, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bedford Hills’ page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Bedford Hills’ history

What year was Bedford Hills founded?

The Bedford Hills post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.