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History · Bradley

Bradley’s post office opened in 1882, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Bradley was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Sylvania. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 2000.

1882first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bradley began

When was Bradley founded?

1882

The Bradley post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 171 in 20002020 census: 160144 years
Founding year: the first Bradley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1979. Watch Bradley change.
★ 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.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bradley on the map, 1892 to 1979

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 1892 USGS mapBradley on the 1950 USGS mapBradley on the 1979 USGS map1892Abbeville sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Bradley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bradley.

Read it all →

The community has the name of Patrick Bradley, an early settler.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bradley, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Sermon on the death of Rev. James M. Chiles : preached at Horeb Church, Abbeville District, South Carolina, on Sunday, …Date?Sermon on the death of Rev. James M. Chiles : preache…Book
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
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Sylvania
Sylvania
Buildings
SylvaniaBuilding

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

People over time

Bradley, census by census

010020002020Peak: 171

Between 160 and 171 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Bradley’s post office has been open since 1882.

Gone or out of use
Cedar Grove ChurchchurchCedar Grove SchoolschoolCivilian Conservation Corps Camp F-7locale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bradley
Cedar GroveMount Pleasant

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Bradley’s history

What year was Bradley founded?

The Bradley post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bradley?

One place: the Sylvania (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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.