Fitch Tavern

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Sometimes known as Stone Croft Farm or the Benjamin Kidder House, the property at 12 Great Road is one of Bedford’s earliest colonial homes, built in 1730. It was purchased by Jeremiah Fitch, a shoemaker and tavern proprietor, in the 1770s.

As revolution became imminent in the colonies, Fitch was named a sergeant of the Bedford militia company. On the morning of April 19, 1775, the minutemen gathered for a cold breakfast at Fitch’s tavern before assembling at Wilson Park to begin their march to Concord.

Fitch operated the tavern until his death in 1808, and the property passed to his son, Jeremiah Fitch III, who became a prominent citizen of Bedford. The Jenks family then owned the home from approximately 1884 to 1953 and it remains a private residence today.