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History · Bradley

Bradley’s post office opened in 1890, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Bradley was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Conway Cemetery. Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Billy Hathorn assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Bradley began

When was Bradley founded?

1890

The Bradley post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 123 in 19102020 census: 405136 years
Founding year: the first Bradley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bradley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bradley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 790 in 1980; 405 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bradley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bradley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Bradley, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 790

Peaked at 790 in 1980; 405 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bradley’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Bradley, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bradley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bradley is a city in Lafayette County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bradley had a population of 405.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 628 to 405 (-36%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bradley, 1845 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845BuiltConway Cemetery is built
  3. 1890Post officeThe Bradley post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 790
By decade

Bradley, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Arkansas Highway 360 near2025Arkansas Highway 360 nearThe Sno 2 Go sno-cone stand2020The Sno 2 Go sno-cone standThe Sno 2 Go sno-cone stand2020The Sno 2 Go sno-cone standBradley, AR Town Hall IMG 64892012Bradley, AR Town Hall IMG 6489Bradley, AR Baptist Church, IMG 64912012Bradley, AR Baptist Church, IMG 6491Bradley Baptist Church, AR sign IMg 64932012Bradley Baptist Church, AR sign IMg 6493
On the map

Bradley on the map, 1952 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bradley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bradley on the 1952 USGS mapBradley on the 1978 USGS map1952Bradley sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bradley.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bradley

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Conway Cemetery
Sites
All 1 listings
Conway CemeterySite · listed 1977

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bradley

Nobody well known was born in Bradley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bessie ColemanAmerican aviator · b. 1892
Conlon NancarrowAmerican composer · b. 1912
John RamboAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1943
Kenny GuinnAmerican politician; 27th Governor of Nevada · b. 1936
Mike RossAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1961
Phil RobertsonAmerican professional hunter, businessman and r… · b. 1946

Questions about Bradley’s history

What year was Bradley founded?

The Bradley post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bradley?

One place: the Conway Cemetery (listed 1977).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.