History of Bradford, Massachusetts, USA*

Bradford, Massachusetts
Essex county. This is a very pleasant town on the south side of Merrimack river, and united to Haverhill by a bridge of 650 feet in length. The surface of the town is uneven and the soil various, but much of the land is of a superior quality. Several of the hills exhibit beautiful scenery. Bradford is celebrated for its excellent schools and seminaries of learning. Here are several ponds, good fishing, and a pleasant stream of water. Some bricks are made here, and considerable leather tanned; but the principal manufacture of the place is of boots and shoes, of which, during the year ending April 1, 1837, the value of $381,748 was made. Total amount of manufactures that year, $394,448. Hands employed, 1,096. Incorporated, 1675. Population, 1837, 2275. This town lies 28 miles N. from Boston, 10 W.S.W. from Newburyport, 18 N. by W. from Salem, and about 18 miles N.E. from Lowell. A branch of the Boston and Lowell rail-road passes through Bradford to Haverhill.

This place was at first called Merrimack, then Rowley Village, and after its separation from Rowley, in 1673, it was called Bradford after the second governor of Plymouth colony.

It lies on the south bank of the Merrimack, opposite Haverhill,, with which it is connected by an excellent bridge.

Shoes are the chief article of manufacture.

Distance from Salem, 18 miles; from Boston, 30.

Bradford, a post-township of Essex co., Massachusetts, on the S. side of Merrimack river, and on the Boston and Maine railroad, 132 miles N. of Boston. It contains two celebrated academies, one for males, and one for females. Population, 1328.

Bradford, a village in the above township, opposite to Haverhill, and on the Boston and Maine railroad, where it crosses the Merrimack river.

On Thursday afternoon, T. M. Smith of So. Boston, while adjusting an iron crane at the paper mill, Bradford, fell a distance of several feet, breaking his left leg below the knee. The bone was set by Dr. Clark of this city, and the unfortunate man made as comfortable as possible. He was sent home on the 4 o'clock train, accommodations being provided in a parlor car. Mr. Smith was sent up by the Boston Machine Co. to set up some machinery and the accident was due to his won carelessness and not to any fault or omission of the paper mill company. Mr. Smith has a wife at So. Boston.

Bradford is beautifully situated on the right bank of the Merrimack River, in the northwesterly part of Essex County. Its bounds are Haverhill on the north (separated by the river), Groveland on the east, Boxford on the south, and Methuen on the east. Its assessed area is 4,546 acres, including 578 acres of woodland. It is about thirty miles north by northwest of Boston on the Boston and Maine Railroad, which has a branch on both the east and west sides, with Ward Hill and Bradford as stations. Little Pond, in the southerly part of the town, sends a small tributary to the Merrimack. The land is handsomely diversified by hill and valley. The soil is generally productive, and the climate healthful. The 122 farms, in 1885, yielded products to the value of $108,204. There were twenty-five manufactories of different kinds,— boots and shoes, hats and other straw goods, leather, paper goods, food preparations and others, the aggregate value of these being $472,947. The valuation, in 1888,...

Bradford, a post-village of £ township, Essex co, Mass, on the right bank of the Merrimac River, opposite Haverhill, and on the Boston & Maine Railroad, 32 miles N. of Boston, at the junction of the Haverhill Branch of the Newburyport & Danvers Railroad. A railroad bridge across the river connects it with Haverhill City. It contains the Bradford Academy, a high school, and a church. Pop of the township in 1890, 3720.