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Bedford, MA

Bedford, Massachusetts
Town
Bedford Depot
Bedford Depot
Flag of Bedford, Massachusetts
Flag
Official seal of Bedford, Massachusetts
Seal
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°29′26″N 71°16′36″W / 42.49056°N 71.27667°W / 42.49056; -71.27667Coordinates: 42°29′26″N 71°16′36″W / 42.49056°N 71.27667°W / 42.49056; -71.27667
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Middlesex
Settled 1640
Incorporated 1729
Government
 • Type Open town meeting
 • Town Manager Richard Reed
Area
 • Total 13.9 sq mi (35.9 km2)
 • Land 13.7 sq mi (35.6 km2)
 • Water 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)
Elevation 135 ft (41 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 13,320
 • Density 959.6/sq mi (369.3/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 01730
Area code(s) 339 / 781
FIPS code 25-04615
GNIS feature ID 0619395
Website http://www.bedfordma.gov/

Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, 15 miles (24 km) north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.

The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information from Abram English Brown’s History of the Town of Bedford (1891), as well as other sources such as The Bedford Sampler Bicentennial Edition containing Daisy Pickman Oakley’s articles, Bedford Vital Records, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Town Directories, and other publications from the Bedford Historical Society.

The land now within the boundaries of Bedford was first settled by Europeans around 1640. In 1729 it was incorporated from a portion of Concord (about 3/5 of Bedford) and a portion of Billerica (about 2/5 of Bedford).

In 1630 came the arrival of John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Aboard the Arabella from Yarmouth, England, Winthrop and Dudley sailed, and after a difficult ten-week voyage, they landed on the shores of the New World, with Salem and Boston Harbor being the Arabella's earliest destinations. In 1637, the General Court of Massachusetts granted some 2,200 acres (9 km²) of land, including Huckins Farm land to the first governor, John Winthrop, and to Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley. The following year, the two men agreed to divide the land so that the parcel south of the two large boulders by the Concord River (Brothers Rocks) belonged to Governor Winthrop and north of the Rocks was to belong to Deputy Governor Dudley. Later, Dudley became governor. Dudley’s son Rev. Samuel Dudley and Winthrop’s daughter Mary were married; thus Brothers Rocks were so named because of this marriage of families.


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