In 1630, John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley of the Massachusetts Bay Company arrived aboard the Arabella from Yarmouth, England.

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.

Samuel Dudley[3] and Winthrop's daughter Mary were married; thus Brothers Rocks were so named because of this marriage of families.

Governor Winthrop's grandson, Fitz John Winthrop, in 1664, sold 1,200 acres (5 km2) of this land (including what is present-day Huckins Farm[4]) to Job Lane (1), a skilled artisan and house builder, in exchange for a house that Lane built for him in Connecticut.

John Lane and his wife, Catherine (Whiting), lived on the site, and after she died, he married Hannah Abbott.

Some time after Samuel Lane died in 1802, the house was removed and Peter Farmer built the present farmhouse in the 1840s.

In the late 19th century, Dudley Leavitt Pickman, descendant of an old Salem merchant family,[5] and his wife Ellen fell in love with the land.

About 1889, he had the Two Brothers Rocks inscribed with the names "Dudley" and "Winthrop" as well as the year 1638, as noted in the Bedford Town Report in 1889.

Today's Dudley Road and Winthrop Avenue in Bedford, as well as Pickman Drive, are named for these families.

"[8] When Governor Winthrop and his Deputy Thomas Dudley viewed their lands in early 1638, they decided to use two great stones on the eastern bank of the Concord River to divide the property.

Over the years, the two men had many differences; however, they learned to work together and even considered themselves "brothers" by their children's marriage.

The Two Brothers Rocks can still be seen near the banks of the Concord River in the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Deer, cottontail rabbit, fox, raccoon, muskrat, beaver, weasel and over 200 species of birds may be seen here.

The house and grounds, not far from Huckins Farm, has been restored and is open to the public from 2–4 pm on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, May through October.

[11] Early on the morning of April 19, 1775, an alarm sounded warning the people of Bedford that British soldiers were marching from Boston to Concord.

Their captain, Jonathan Willson, told them, "It is a cold breakfast boys, but we'll give them a hot dinner."

The ruins of this old mill over Vine Brook (on Wilson and Old Burlington Road) were added to the national historical register in 2003 (see photo).

"[12] The Elijah Stearns Mansion is located in the heart of Bedford's Historic District and across from Wilson Park at 4 Great Road.

Built by Stearns around 1800, it is a fine example of Federal architecture, which features brick ends, four chimneys and a doorway arched in glass and wrought iron.

Its neighbors, clockwise, starting from 12 o'clock, are Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, Lincoln, Concord and Carlisle.

It has moved to the Lowell area as a result of the Veterans Administrations Cares Mission and is no longer in Bedford.

[31] There is a METCO program, where students from Boston come to the Bedford schools, starting in kindergarten and staying with the class until graduation.

The Davis and Lane (and former Page) schools are named for local officers who took part in the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775.

The MBTA operates the Route 351 express bus service, from Alewife; the bus terminates at Oak Park Drive, Bedford Woods, and EMD Serono; this service operates only on the morning and evening weekday rush-hour times and connects to the Red Line at Alewife.