Brady is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Grays Harbor County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States. The population was 692 at the 2020 census.

History

Brady was named in honor of John Brady, an early settler in the Chehalis Valley. Brady had a farm roughly a mile north of the present location of the Brady Food Mart. The Chehalis River valley south of Brady was the first part of this area to be settled, by the Smith, Twidwell and Foster families in the late 19th century. Andrew Jackson Smith settled his homestead beginning in 1851. The Smith, Foster and Twidwill families are all related. At that time the Chehalis River was the only means of transportation in and out of the area, so these homesteads were staked out on the riverfront. Subsequent road construction led in the 1930s to paving through Brady of a two-lane highway, at the time called Highway 410, connecting the Pacific coast with U.S. Highway 101 at Olympia. This road is now referred to as the Monte-Elma Road. A four-lane, divided freeway connecting

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

at Olympia to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

was built through the Brady area in the mid-1960s. The section passing through the Brady area is part of

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 or U.S. Highway 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90 ...

. The greater Brady area relates to the boundaries of the now-defunct Brady school district, bounded on the east by the

Satsop River The Satsop River is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It has three main tributary forks, the East Fork, West Fork, and Middle Fork Satsop Rivers. The main stem Satsop River is formed by the confluence of the West and East Forks. The Middl ...

, on the north by the Grays Harbor County line, on the south by the Chehalis River, and on the west by the boundary with the Montesano School District at Camp Creek. Today, these boundaries roughly correspond to Grays Harbor Fire District No. 2, which is served by the Brady Volunteer Fire Department. The school at Brady, known as Olympic View School, was consolidated with the Montesano School District in 1968. Prior to this consolidation the school was the social hub of the community. The school house was sold to a private drug abuse rehabilitation charity called the Harvester Foundation. The school playshed, which had been converted to residential housing, burned in a case of suspected arson in the mid-1970s. Two children did not escape, and their bodies were later recovered from the ashes from beneath the remains of a completely incinerated bed. The schoolhouse was later demolished.

Geography

Brady is located in southeastern Grays Harbor County between Montesano to the west and

Satsop Satsop is a census-designated place (CDP) in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 675 at the 2010 census, up from 619 at the 2000 census. Geography Satsop is located in southeastern Grays Harbor County on the Sa ...

to the east.

, running through the southern part of Brady, leads west to

and southeast to Grand Mound, while Olympia is to the east via US 12 and

State Route 8 The following highways are numbered 8. For roads numbered A8, see list of A8 roads. For roads numbered N8, see list of N8 roads. Route 8, or Highway 8, may refer to: International * AH8, Asian Highway 8 * European route E08 * European route E00 ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Brady CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.37%, are water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 645 people, 239 households, and 185 families residing in the CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was 90.6 people per square mile (35.0/km²). There were 257 housing units at an average density of 36.1/sq mi (13.9/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.97%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.16%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 2.33% Native American, 0.16%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, and 1.40% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.24% of the population. There were 239 households, out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.2% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.03. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $67,386, and the median income for a family was $72,750. Males had a median income of $45,764 versus $30,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $20,857. About 4.9% of families and 5.9% of the population were 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 ...

, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 35.7% of those age 65 or over. Brady today has a grocery store with a filling station, a Grange Hall, and a fire station. It has no church and has never had a post office.

Notable residents

* Allan Mustard, former United States Ambassador to Turkmenistan, and Chair of the

OpenStreetMap Foundation The OpenStreetMap Foundation (abbreviated OSMF) is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to support and enable the development of freely-reusable geospatial data. Founded in 2006, it is closely connected with the OpenStreetMap project, although ...

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Grays Harbor County, Washington Census-designated places in Washington (state)