James Adam Bradley (February 14, 1830 – June 6, 1921) was a wealthy Manhattan brush manufacturer, financier, member of the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the New Jersey Legislative Council, Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts wit ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, and

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...

. He designed the resort destination of

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188

on the New Jersey Shore. Bradley was also involved in the development of Bradley Beach, which bears his name.

Biography

Bradley was born on February 14, 1830, in

Rossville, Staten Island Rossville is a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, on the island's South Shore. It is located to the north of Woodrow, to the west of Arden Heights, and to the south and east of the Arthur Kill. Rossville is located within Staten Island Co ...

, New York, United States, to Hannah and Adam Bradley. At age sixteen, in 1846, he became an apprentice brush maker for Bernalds & Weeks in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 1857 he established his own brush making business, Bradley & Smith, in

. Bradley was married to Helen M. Packard of Boston; they had no children. Bradley converted from

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, and was very close philosophically with the leaders of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association who ran the summer retreat on the New Jersey shore. These relationships lead Bradley to focus his attention on developing the area around Ocean Grove. On January 24, 1871, Bradley acquired approximately of land east of the

New York and Long Branch railroad The New York and Long Branch Railroad was a railroad in central New Jersey, running from Bay Head Junction in Bay Head to Perth Amboy, where it connected to the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Perth Amboy and Elizabethport Railroad. The rail ...

, between Wesley and

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, a ...

Lakes. Bradley named the new community Asbury Park after

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life t ...

, the founder of Methodism in the United States. Bradley served as the first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Asbury Park from 1874 to 1884, and established the city's first newspaper, the ''Asbury Park Journal'' (1876–1910), serving as its editor and proprietor until 1882. Bradley began Asbury Park's first

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

system in 1881, and set up water & gas works in 1884. Bradley also served as the first

Mayor of Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park, New Jersey incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 26, 1874, from portions of Ocean Township. The borough was reincorporated on February 28, 1893. Asbury Park was incorporated as a city, its current ...

(1893–1902) and as a councilman. In 1894, Bradley was elected to the

from Monmouth County. The City of Asbury Park sued Bradley for control of his beachfront property and sewer system in 1902. Bradley lost the suit. Bradley died June 6, 1921. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Legacy

Bradley set aside park lands, waterfront areas, and urban scale blocks, that widened at the ocean. Bradley donated land to religious and civic groups, and the public library. Bradley is responsible for the creation of the mile-long oceanfront boardwalk that remains today. A statue of Bradley stands in front of the Paramount Theater and

Convention Hall Convention Hall was a convention center in Kansas City, Missouri that hosted the 1900 Democratic National Convention and 1928 Republican National Convention. It was designed by Frederick E. Hill and built at the corner of 13th and Central and cos ...

complex in Bradley Park. Constructed shortly after his death to mark the 50th anniversary of the city's founding, a campaign began in 2017 to remove the statue based on Bradley's history of instituting segregation on the beach and boardwalk that he owned. Bradley was pressured into this by hotel owners and a campaign by the ''Asbury Park Daily Journal'' upon complaints of White visitors in 1885. Previously, the oceanfront was open to all. Bradley openly explained his motivations to Black groups. He felt that should Asbury Park remain integrated and cease to attract White visitors, economic ruin would result. The city's economy was negatively impacted in the 1970s when the number of White visitors declined after the beach and boardwalk were reintegrated. Members of the Asbury Park Historical Society acknowledged Bradley's use of segregation but opposed removal of the statue.Bogues, Austin
"Don't tear down Asbury Park founder statue, history group pleads"
''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997. Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hono ...

'', September 27, 2017. Accessed January 23, 2018. "The Asbury Park Historical Society says people should never forget the city's late founder James Bradley's 'advocacy of segregation,' but it draws the line on removing the statue erected in his honor near Convention Hall.... Werner Baumgartner, city historian for Asbury Park, said in addition to being the city's founder Bradley served as the city's mayor for several terms."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, James A. 1830 births 1921 deaths Mayors of Asbury Park, New Jersey New Jersey state senators People from Asbury Park, New Jersey People from Bradley Beach, New Jersey People from Rossville, Staten Island 19th-century American businesspeople Converts to Methodism from Roman Catholicism Bradley Beach, New Jersey