With over 6000 objects in our collection we have items ranging from furniture and paintings to household tools, decorations, ephemera, and clothing. Each item speaks to the different groups of people who have called Bedford home for over 344 years. Items range from those that tell dark histories (a runaway slave notice serves as a reminder that Bedford had slavery well into the 19th century) to the just plain strange (an effigy of English Evangelist John Wesley made of horse vertebrae!). Stop by and see what you will discover!
The Bedford Museum at the Bedford Court House
615 Old Post Road, Bedford, NY
The museum is open Thursday, Friday & Saturday from noon to 3pm beginning May 12, 2023
The 1787 Bedford Court House was restored to its original dignity in 1970 and is used today as a site museum. Lectures and meetings of local organizations are also held here, much as they were when the Court House was originally built. The court room also provides the setting for mock trials as part of the Bedford Historical Society’s education tours offered to local schools. You can read a short history about the Bedford Museum here.
A small museum gift shop offers Historical Society publications and Bedford memorabilia.
First Floor Exhibits
Restored 18th century Court Room where cases were heard from 1788 until 1868. Visitors can stand in the same room where county court justices like William Jay, son of John Jay, first chief justice of the United States, heard cases presented by young attorneys like Aaron Burr, later Vice President under Thomas Jefferson. Visitors can also view a collection of historic portraits on the ground floor.
Second Floor Exhibit
Bedford Museum – a museum of local history tracing Bedford’s past through artifacts of commerce, farming, family life and community. Also features the oldest jail cell in Westchester County and measures approximately 105 square feet. The jail cell was featured in The Westchester Historian’s Spring 2006 issue and on the correctionhistory.org website.
The 1787 Court House is within the Bedford Village Historic District which is listed on both the National and State Registers of Historic Places. It is owned by the Town of Bedford while it is maintained and preserved by the Bedford Historical Society.
