Bradford is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in McKean County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is located close to the border with

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

and approximately south of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. Bradford is the principal city in the Bradford, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,825 at the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

History

Settled in 1823, Bradford was chartered as a city in 1879 and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the

Pennsylvania oil rush The oil rush in America started in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the Oil Creek (Allegheny River), Oil Creek Valley when Edwin L. Drake struck "rock oil" there in 1859. Titusville and other towns on the shores of Oil Creek expanded rapidly as oil w ...

in the late 19th century. The area's Pennsylvania Grade crude oil has superior qualities and is free of asphaltic constituents, contains only trace amounts of sulfur and nitrogen, and has excellent characteristics for refining into lubricants. The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was built in 1876 as one of, if not the first,

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

s in America, when Bradford was a booming oil town. World-famous Kendall racing oils were produced in Bradford. Bradford was the site of an important step in the development of personal aviation. In the 1930s, the

Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...

produced an airplane called the Taylor Cub in Bradford. After a fire at the factory, the company was bought by William T. Piper. After relocating his factory to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, Piper resumed production of a revised design of the airplane first produced in Bradford, which became the world-famous

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

. The population peaked at 19,306 in 1930, but at the 2010 census had dropped to 8,770. Two adjoining townships, home to approximately 9,000 people, make the population of Greater Bradford about 18,000. Famous Bradfordians include the opera singer

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

, the Hall of Fame baseball player

Rube Waddell George Edward Waddell (October 13, 1876 – April 1, 1914) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-hander, he played for 13 years, with the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Orphans in the National ...

and the five-time All-Star football player

Stew Barber Stewart Clair Barber (born June 14, 1939) is a former American football offensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills. He also was an executive in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills. He played ...

. A famous

perpetual motion Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

machine hoax was created in Bradford in 1897 by J.M. Aldrich; it was exposed in the July 1, 1899, issue of the ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'' magazine, leading to a four-month prison sentence in the county jail. The

Bradford Armory Bradford Armory, is a historic National Guard armory located in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in McKean County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1991. It was built in 1912 for Company C, 16th Infantry of the Pennsylv ...

Bradford Downtown Historic District Bradford Downtown Historic District, is a national historic district in Bradford, McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes 136 contributing structures, mostly commercial buildings, and three structures otherwise listed on the Nati ...

Bradford Old City Hall The Bradford Old City Hall is a historic city hall located in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in McKean County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 17, 1976. The eclectic Victorian Romanesque Revival building was constructe ...

, and

Rufus Barrett Stone House The Rufus Barrett Stone House, also called the Flatiron Building, is a historic townhouse located in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in McKean County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 14, 1982. The three story brick ...

are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Economy

Bradford is the home of

Zippo A Zippo lighter is a reusable metal lighter produced by Zippo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States. Thousands of different styles and designs have been made in the nine decades since their introduction, including milita ...

(est. 1932), a manufacturer of collectible pocket lighters, and Case (est. in Bradford in 1905), which is owned by Zippo and makes hunting, fishing, folding pocketknives, and collectibles. In February 2009, the two companies employed 1,117 people, but significant layoffs have taken place since. After Zippo and Case, the second largest employer i
Bradford Regional Medical Center
(BRMC), which employed 759 in February 2009. BRMC underwent a significant campus expansion in 2006. Other major employers in February 2009 included Beacon Light (682 employees), which is responsible for overseeing troubled youth. Bradford Area School District (474) and Wal-Mart (378). FCI McKean nearby employed 301 at that time. The city is home to American Refining Group (formerly Kendall), and their line of specialty products. Along with being Bradford's longest running active business, ARG is the oldest continuously operating refinery in the United States. It celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006. Since ARG purchased the refinery in the mid-1990s, employment has almost doubled to just under 300 in February 2009. Bradford has a four-year college, the

University of Pittsburgh at Bradford The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (Pitt-Bradford or UPB) is a state-related college in Bradford, Pennsylvania. It is a baccalaureate degree-granting, regional campus of the University of Pittsburgh. History Founding The University of Pit ...

(Pitt-Bradford), which in the fall term 2009 had 1,455 full-time students and 202 part-time students for a total enrollment of 1,657, with 217 full-time employees and 106 part-time employees. Almost 900 students live on campus. The city's shopping mall and many of its chain businesses are located just north of the city line in Foster Brook.

Arts and entertainment

The Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center season runs from September to March. The Bromeley Family Theater at The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford hosts many events in the University's Spectrum Series that brings authors, artists, musicians, recitalists and performance groups to campus with all events open to the public. Theater productions are staged by the theater departments at Pitt-Bradford and the high school and by the Bradford Little Theater (BLT), which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006. BLT also operates Togi's Playhouse for smaller productions. An annual community talent show, Kiwanis Kapers, occurs in the fall. In May 2017, the Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center opened in downtown Bradford. Part of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, the 3,400 square-foot exhibition space celebrates the life and career of American mezzo-soprano, Marilyn Horne. The museum highlights objects from Horne's personal archive, which is housed at the University of Pittsburgh. Annual festivals include Stinkfest (a festival promoting

leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

cuisine), Summer Daze (formerly known as Summerfest), Autumn Daze, the Italian Festival, the Zippo/Case International Swap Meet (biennial, with Zippo Days held in off years) and the Crook Farm Country Fair. In early August, the annual Big 30 Charity high school all star football game takes place at Parkway Field, where a million-dollar artificial playing surface was installed in 2008. In 2009, for the first time, National Night Out was a significant event in Bradford, coinciding with Taste of Bradford. A

First Night First Night is a North American artistic and cultural celebration on New Year's Eve, taking place from afternoon until midnight. Some cities have all their events during the celebration outside, but some cities have events that are hosted indoors ...

celebration is held on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

, complete with a ball drop of its own.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 9,175 people, 3,922 households, and 2,247 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 2,659.7 people per square mile (1,026.8/km²). There were 4,371 housing units at an average density of 1,267.1 per square mile (489.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.74%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.49%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.31% Native American, 0.52%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.27% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.63% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.95% of the population. There are 3,922 households, out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18, 36.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% of households were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,463, and the median income for a family was $32,828. Males had a median income of $30,661 versus $21,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $17,537. About 16.9% of families and 20.7% of the population was below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

Geography

Bradford is located on U.S. Route 219, just south of its junction with Interstate 86 north of the New York border. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , all land. Bradford is situated in a valley in the Allegheny Mountains and is surrounded by woods and steep hills. Two branches of the

Tunungwant Creek Tunungwant Creek is a long fifth-order tributary to the Allegheny River. This is the only stream of this name in the United States. Course Tunungwant Creek forms at the confluence of East and West Branch Tunungwant Creek in McKean County, Penn ...

enter the city, merge and flow north into the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

just across the New York border.

Bradford Regional Airport Bradford Regional Airport is 11 miles south of Bradford, in Lafayette Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania. It has scheduled airline service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. The airport is owned by the Bradford Regional Airpor ...

is located approximately south of the city, at Mount Alton. The elevation of the city is 1,443 feet (440 meters) above sea level, but the airport is at an elevation of 2,142 feet (653 meters) above sea level. Because of the higher elevation, the airport often has the coldest reported air temperatures in Pennsylvania. The airport has one of the few National Weather Service stations across the entire northern tier of the state. Temperatures in the city are typically three to seven degrees warmer than at the airport due to the difference in elevation, and actual city temperatures are more representative of other communities in northern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York than are the airport's.

Climate

Bradford has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

) with cold, long, snowy winters and warm, humid summers. The record low in Bradford is set in February 1934 and the record high is in July 2011. Other notable extremes include a recording on November 29, 1930, and on November 30, 1929, a recording on April 1, 1923, an degree reading on March 30, 1986 and March 29, 1998, and a degree reading on August 29, 1982. Late fall/early winter is especially snowy due to heavy amounts of lake effect snow from

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

and, to a lesser extent,

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. Lake effect snow during cold snaps in early spring also helps to raise snowfall totals.

Recreation

Bradford is located within miles of the

Allegany State Park Allegany State Park is a state park in western New York State, located in Cattaraugus County just north of the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. The park is divided into two sections: The Red House Area and the Quaker Run Area. It lie ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the third-largest state park in the United States, and the

Allegheny National Forest The Allegheny National Forest is a National Forest in Northwestern Pennsylvania, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The forest covers of land. Within the forest is Kinzua Dam, which impounds the Allegheny River to form Allegheny Reservoir ...

, the only national forest in Pennsylvania. The Tuna Valley Trails Association has constructed several miles of trails in the community, with a master plan of over currently being planned, funded and implemented. Parks in the city include Callahan Park, with swimming pools, tennis courts and an enclosed ice skating rink, and Hanley Park, with a large playground, horseshoe pits and a skate park. The surrounding area has two golf courses, the Pennhills Club in Bradford Township and Pine Acres Golf Course near Marshburg.

Notable people

* Marjorie West, a child of 4 who disappeared in 1938 *

, collegiate and professional football player; born in Bradford on June 14, 1939 * Inez Barbour Hadley, soprano singer, born in Bradford in 1879 *

George Grant Blaisdell George Blaisdell (June 5, 1895 – October 4, 1978) was an American inventor known for creating the Zippo lighter, based on an Austrian lighter in 1933. In the 1940s, George bought buildings that could create a factory that could make the Zippo l ...

, founder of the

lighter company; born in Bradford on June 5, 1895 *

John Gilmore John Gilmore may refer to: * John Gilmore (activist) (born 1955), co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Cygnus Solutions * John Gilmore (musician) (1931–1995), American jazz saxophonist * John Gilmore (representative) (1780–1845), ...

, opera singer *

, American mezzo-soprano opera singer; born in Bradford on January 16, 1934 * Henry Clinton Hunt, Wisconsin State Assemblyman; born in Bradford on January 27, 1840 *

Larry Peace Lawrence W. Peace (February 13, 1917 - January 12, 2009) was an American football Halfback (American football), halfback who played one season with the Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL), Brooklyn Dodgers of the National Football League. He played college foo ...

, NFL player * J. Howard Pew, president of Sun Oil Company (Sonoco) for 35 years and noted philanthropist; born in Bradford in 1882 *

Todd Schlopy Robert Todd Schlopy (born June 17, 1961) is a motion picture cameraman and former American football placekicker. Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania and raised in Buffalo, NY, Schlopy attended Orchard Park High School in Orchard Park, New York. He ...

, feature film cameraman, briefly an NFL player *

, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher; born in Bradford on October 13, 1876 * Jay and Jules Allen, film exhibitors * Philip M. Shannon, Mayor of Bradford, oil businessman, and millionaire; born in Bradford on September 2, 1846

Notes

References

External links

City website

Chamber of commerce

''Bradford Era''
newspaper
''Bradford Regional Medical Center''
{{authority control Populated places established in 1823 Cities in McKean County, Pennsylvania 1823 establishments in Pennsylvania Cities in Pennsylvania