James A. Bradley

James Adam Bradley, (1830 – June 21, 1921) was a wealthy Manhattan brush manufacturer ["A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRADLEY BEACH", Shirley Ayres, Borough Historian [http://www.southernmonmouthchamber.com/bradleybeach.asp] ] , financier, NJ state senator, philanthropist, and developer who designed the resort destination of Asbury Park on the New Jersey Shore. [JAMES A. BRADLEY (1830 - 1921) PAPERS, 1891 - 1897, Lois R. Densky, Gregory J. Plunges, April 1981. [http://www.monmouth.com/~mcha3/coll28.html] ] Bradley was born at Rossville on Staten Island in New York City the son of Adam and Hannah Bradley, at age sixteen, he became an apprentice brush maker in Francis R. Furnald's factory in New York City. In 1857 he established his own brush making business, Bradley & Smith, in New York City. Bradley was married to Helen M. Packard of Boston, they had no children.

Bradley converted from Catholic to Methodist, and was very close philosophically with the leaders of the Ocean Grove 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.Bradley served as the first postmaster of Asbury Park (1874 - 1884), and established the city's first newspaper, the "Asbury Park Journal" (1876 - 1910) in 1876, serving as its editor and until 1882. Bradley began Asbury Park’s first sewerage system in 1881, and setup water & gas works in 1884. Bradley also serves as the city’s mayor and councilman. In 1894, Bradley was elected to the New Jersey Senate from Monmouth County.The City of Asbury Park sued Bradley for control of his beach front property, and sewer system in 1902. Bradley lost the suit.Bradley died June 21, 1921 He is interned at Woodlawn Cemetery in Brooklyn.

A statue of Bradley stands in front of the Paramount Theater and Convention Hall complex in Bradley Park.

On January 24, 1871, Bradley acquired approximately convert|500|acre|km2 of land east of the New York and Long Branch railroad, between Wesley and Deal lakes. Bradley named the new community Asbury Park after Francis Asbury, the founder of Methodism in the United States. [A Brief History of Asbury Park, Florance Moss, [http://asburypark.net/info/history.html] ]

Bradley set aside park lands, waterfront areas, and urban scale blocks, that widend 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. [Capuzzo, Jill P. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903EED6163CF935A3575BC0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 " Move Over, Fire Island, Here Comes Asbury Park; Urban Gays Lead Way in Reviving This Run-Down Resort"] . "The New York Times", August 6, 2000. Accessed August 20, 2007.]

Bradley was active in Asbury Park development until his death in 1921. Bradley was also involved in the development of Bradley Beach, which bears his name. [ [http://www.bradley-beach.com "A Brief History on Bradley Beach"] , Bradley-Beach.com/]

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* [http://www.monmouthhistory.org/Sections-read-43.html The Monmouth County Historical Association]