HISTORY: We always like to share bits of history with readers, and today’s facts came from the Bradford Landmark Society.
What a treasure trove of information!
This from the society’s website: “The name Bradford has come down to the city in logical if not inevitable historic sequence; first as the name of the township in 1827; 45 years later, in 1872, as the name of the borough, and seven years later, in 1879, as the name of the city, both the city and the borough being a part of the original township.
“Prior to 1827, the settlement of the valley was between Kendall Creek and the saw mills at or near State Line, otherwise called Tuna. For some years the settlers of this mill district had felt the need of the advantages of a separate township. But under the law the courts for the county were held at Williamsport. As soon as the courts were opened at Smethport, John F. Melvin, one of the mill proprietors, presented a petition bearing the signature of himself and 15 others, asking for a division of Ceres Township and that the west end be set off in a separate township to be called Bradford.
“Melvin’s Mills was a New Hampshire village from which Melvin had come and it was situated in the town of Bradford. The 16 signatures to the petition probably constitute the population of the valley at that time, and the list is therefore interesting as a registry of the pioneer residents.”
The signatures we could read included the last names of Webster, Kennedy, Davis, Moorhouse, Degolier, Switzer, Colby, Johnson, Hilton, Osgood, Abbott, Matteson, Hewitt, Brown and Foster.
The story continued:
“The population increased slowly.”
Fourteen years later, Melvin asked for the establishment of a post office, and asked for it to be named after postmaster general Amos Kendall. To distinguish it from others named after the distinguished statesman, it was named Kendall Creek, as the street was nearby.
“Nathaniel Edson was the first postmaster, the first office was at the Melvin homestead. It was moved to the Fuller House, which stood at the northwest corner of East Main Street and North Kendall Avenue.”
More on Bradford’s history in future columns.
