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History · Bradshaw

Bradshaw’s post office opened in 1876, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1990.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bradshaw’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bradshaw began

When was Bradshaw founded?

1876

The Bradshaw post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1979. Another post office, Dan (1914), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 394 in 19902020 census: 207150 years
Founding year: the first Bradshaw post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1979.

What stands out about Bradshaw’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Bradshaw’s homes were built before 1942.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.On the map since 19125 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1996. Watch Bradshaw change.
★ What stands out · The story so far

Bradshaw, in brief

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

Bradshaw is a town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 207 at the 2020 census. Bradshaw was incorporated in December 1979 and named for a pioneer settler.

Its first post office opened in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 337 to 207 (-39%).

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

By decade

Bradshaw, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s12 items
A miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West Virginia1946A miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation…Back door of a house. The screening is supplied by the employee-tenant. The Company is responsible for outside... - NAR…1946Back door of a house. The screening is supplied by th…Bedroom in home of the Elige Hicks. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West Virginia1946Bedroom in home of the Elige Hicks. Southern Coal Cor…Changing room in washhouse for white miners. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West …1946Changing room in washhouse for white miners. Southern…Child of miner walks down the road. This is all the street there is, there are no garbage collections and trash and... …1946Child of miner walks down the road. This is all the s…Children of Clabe Hicks, miner, Ten people, two adults and eight children live in a four room house for which they... -…1946Children of Clabe Hicks, miner, Ten people, two adult…Children of miners wash jars for home canning. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, Wes…1946Children of miners wash jars for home canning. Southe…Coal cars and houses. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West Virginia1946Coal cars and houses. Southern Coal Corporation, Brad…Corner of the living room of Mr. and Mrs. Elige Hicks. The army coat belongs to a married son who has returned to... - …1946Corner of the living room of Mr. and Mrs. Elige Hicks…Daughter of Clabe Hicks, miner1946Daughter of Clabe Hicks, minerDaughter of Lewis Moncy, miner, in the kitchen, most of the houses in this camp have running water in the kitchen.... -…1946Daughter of Lewis Moncy, miner, in the kitchen, most …Daughter of the Elige Hicks washing in the kitchen of their four room house for which they pay $10.50 monthly. They... …1946Daughter of the Elige Hicks washing in the kitchen of…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Bradshaw on the map, 1912 to 1996

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

Bradshaw on the 1912 USGS mapBradshaw on the 1927 USGS mapBradshaw on the 1964 USGS mapBradshaw on the 1977 USGS mapBradshaw on the 1996 USGS map1912Iaeger sheet · 1:62,500

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

Timeline

Bradshaw, 1876 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Bradshaw post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1914Post officeThe Dan post office opens
  6. 1930Post officeThe Dan post office closes
  7. 1946In the archiveA miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell …
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

A miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West Virginia
Retake this viewA miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West Virginia, 1946

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bradshaw’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bradshaw, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 394

Between 207 and 394 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Bradshaw’s post office has been open since 1876. Another post office, Dan, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bradshaw
1876–today
Dan
1914–1930
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dan
Gone or out of use
Bradshaw Junior High Schoolschool

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

Help out

Finish Bradshaw’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewA miner asleep in his home. Southern Co…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Bradshaw’s history

What year was Bradshaw founded?

The Bradshaw post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1979.

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 (12), 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.