Bedford Post Office (Bedford Village Historic District)

The Greek Revival-style building that houses the Bedford Post Office in historic Bedford Village dates to ca.1838. In the mid-1800s, the building originally served as the harness shop of proprietor Benjamin Ambler. By 1893, it was the new home of the Bedford Post Office. The building was originally located farther east on Bedford’s Village Green next to the present-day Bedford Library. It was moved to 40 Village Green in 1929 to make room for the Bedford Fire House at 34 Village Green. In 1972, the Bedford Historical Society purchased the Bedford Post Office in order to preserve it. A number of changes have been made over the years to its interior and exterior, including enlargement in 1975, yet the building continues to reflect its period architecture. It remains in active use. The Bedford Post Office is included in the Bedford Village Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Bedford’s Village Green has played an important role in the history of the Bedford Village going back to the late 1680s when the earliest settlers constructed a meetinghouse here. Churches, a library, and a one-room school house all stand along the Green, as they have for decades, and in some cases, centuries. 

In the late 1830s, a man by the name of Benjamin Ambler built his own small Greek Revival-style building on Bedford’s Village Green. Completed around 1838, the building served as Ambler’s harness shop. Ambler, who was known as "Bach (short for bachelor) Ben" had a questionable reputation and was said to have hosted card games at night in the building after the shutters were closed.

By 1893, Bach Ben’s old shop was no longer in business and the became the new location of the Bedford Post Office. This site replaced various earlier post office locations in the village; Bedford had Westchester County’s fourth registered post office dating from 1798. After forty more years in that location, the decision was made to move it down the Green in 1929 in order to accommodate the Bedford Fire House. It has remained at 40 Village Green ever since.

In 1972, the Bedford Historical Society purchased the Bedford Post Office in order to preserve it. In need of enlargement, the building was expanded in 1975. That same year, the building’s ground level windows were changed from four large lites to twenty-four divided lites to match the original second story windows. The Bedford Post Office retains a Federal pediment and entablature graced by dentil moulding.

The Bedford Post Office is included in the Bedford Village Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. 

Information and photos for this entry were contributed by the Bedford Historical Society. Special thanks to Lynn Ryan, Executive Director.

1. Bedford Historical Society. Walking Tour of Historic Bedford Village. Bedford, NY. 
2. Bedford Historical Society website. https://www.bedfordhistoricalsociety.org/
3. “Bedford Village Historic District #73001285.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service. 1973. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322953 
4. Lindefield Bianco, Shirley and Stockbridge, John. Images of America: Bedford. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. 2003.
5. Williams, Gray. Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. 2003.
6. Wood, James. A.M. The History of the Town of Bedford to 1917. Reprinted from the History of Westchester County, New York, 1925.