Bedford Building (1923)

From as early as 1799 through the 1920s a hotel stood at the corner of Main Street, Church Lane and State Street/Post Road East in Westport. In 1923 the old Westport Hotel was replaced by a large Tudor Revival-style structure donated by Edward T. Bedford (1849-1931) to serve as the town’s first Y.M.C.A. building. Bedford, who grew up in Westport in modest circumstances and eventually became an executive of Standard Oil, remembered in his youth standing outside the windows of the hotel, watching a game of pool or billiards, but being unable to enter on account of the hotel’s saloon. Years later he wanted to donate a place where local boys and young men could congregate safely. The Bedford Building remained the home of the Y.M.C.A. for ninety years, eventually expanding to occupy space in the adjoining firehouse as well, until it moved to a new facility in 2014. Its original home was then transformed to became part of a substantial new mixed-use development (retail, dining and residential) called Bedford Square. The historic Tudor Revival facade was maintained, but the rear and basements of the property were significantly altered. Later 1977 additions to the Y.M.C.A. were replaced with historically sensitive new construction. Anthropologie & Co. moved in as the anchor tenant for the 40,000-square-foot Bedford Building.