Bradford, Ohio - Railroad Town
Bradford in the Beginning
The Village of Bradford, Ohio is situated in both Newberry and Adams
Townships of Miami and Darke Counties. Miami County has the greater portion of
citizens with the entire population being 1,859 as of the 2000 census. The village dates
back to 1857, when the first train reached the end of the railhead at the Miami/Darke
County line. At that time this area of Ohio was thick rich forest land with prairies and
swamp land sections breaking through the trees. During the early 18th Century this same
area had been the hunting grounds for the Shawnee Indians. That all changed in 1795
when the Treaty of Greenville was signed by most of the Ohio Indian tribes and General
Anthony Wayne. This opened up huge portions of West Central Ohio for white
settlement.
First locomotive at rails end on the
Miami County-Darke County Line
In 1868, the Cincinnati, Columbus & Indiana Central Railroad Company built a
roundhouse at the junction of their tracks located in Western Miami County. This was the
starting point of the town. The Railroad Company completed twelve stalls of their
roundhouse at Bradford, and then increased the number to twenty-four and finally fortyeight stalls for the upkeep of their steam engines.
Trains at the Roundhouse Turntable
Circa 1890
The town was first called Richmond, Richmond Junction, then Union City
Junction, but in 1868, it received the name of Bradford or Bradford Junction from Tom
Bradford, a mail agent on the Cincinnati, Columbus & Indiana Central Railroad. He
decided the town should be named after him, since there were no other towns in Ohio by
that name and he thought Bradford was a good one. The town’s official name today is
Bradford Village.
Charles Rapp, who lived on the Miami County side, is considered the town’s first
official mail carrier. He was hired by the railroad company to deliver the mail within a
designated area around the depot. The depot consisted of an old boxcar. The mail was
carried around in Charlie's pockets and in his hat and delivered as he ran into recipients
or visited businesses. Before Mr. Rapp was hired to deliver the mail, area residents would
need to travel to Covington or Gettysburg to receive their mail. On March 9, 1901,
Bradford established a Rural Free Delivery (RFD) itinerary of mail routes from Bradford
as announced by the United States Post Office Department. The new routes covered 50
square miles and served 2,500 people.
Early in 1868 when the Railroad Company began building in the town, Charles
Dearworth built a new boarding house. It was called the "Locust House." It was located
directly across from the depot on the Logansport Division of tracks. It later became
known as “Louie’s”. Later on it was operated as “Beardsley’s” and didn’t close until the
1960’s. “Louie’s” still stands on East Main Street as a private residence and faces the old
empty track bed.
At the same time, William Romans, a master mechanic of the Cincinnati,
Columbus & Indiana Central Railroad, laid out some lots on the Miami County side.
Page 2 of 15
Dan Rice, a foreman at the roundhouse, also purchased land and charted lots
which he sold, these also being in Miami Co.
Later on the Railroad Company, Christian Sears, Moses Wise, and Wade Steel
laid out more lots. In August 1868, W.H. Sowers built a large warehouse at the junction
and engaged in the grain trade using the name J. Sowers & Son. A hotel called The
Hoover House was erected and another hotel was built just a little ways east of the
Hoover House by Dan Rice and was called the Bradford House. In 1868 one of the first
houses to be built in Bradford was put up by John S. Moore. In 1869, J. Sowers & Son
engaged in a general merchandise business, in addition to their booming grain trade. Also
in 1869, the railway depot was built at the junction. Bradford was really beginning to
grow.
Bradford Pan Handle Railroad Depot
Nate Iddings Bradford’s Builder
In 1870, Nathan Iddings became engaged in the general merchandise business in
East Bradford. He was soon forced to give up this endeavor due to sunstroke and set up
shop as a general Notary and real estate businessman. Nate Iddings alone had more
houses erected in Bradford than any other person or business. He also owned numerous
farms around Bradford. He also served, in an official capacity, as the representative for
the Pennsylvania Railroad in dealings with the city. Bradford was quickly growing and
becoming a bustling city full of people.
Page 3 of 15
Nate Iddings and his beloved
Granddaughter Mildred
Bradford Businesses and Schools
Bradford continued to improve quite rapidly and many houses and stores were
being built on both sides of the county line. In 1870, the first schoolhouse was erected, on
the Miami County side, which was used until the completion of the Union School
building in 1876 on the Darke County side of town. The contractors for the Union
School were Dennis Dwyer and George Manix. The cost of the structure was $28,000. It
was four stories high including the basement. There was a large school bell and the entire
building was heated by steam. The old school building on Miami Avenue was sold and
used as an agricultural store by Henry Klinger and later on it housed Fashner Plumbing. It
still stands today just South of Smithfield Street next to The Village Pizza on Miami
Avenue.
Page 4 of 15
Bradford Union School Being Built-1870
Bradford children had a great benefactor in a man everyone called “Doc” Wade.
Aaron L. Wade was one of Bradford’s pioneers and the first jeweler in town. He served
in the Civil War and was a member of the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic). Aaron
was remembered as a quiet man who was well loved by the children in town. His wife
had died at the early age of 28, leaving Aaron with an 8-year-old son named Clement F.
Wade. He later died at the young age of 19. The grieving “Doc” Wade directed all of his
energies into his businesses and land holdings. He never remarried.
Page 5 of 15
Aaron Wade
(1840-1928)
During his later years he expressed his love for the children of the community by
establishing a special trust for the current and future generations of Bradford’s youngest
citizens. He founded the Wade Kindergarten School in Bradford, Ohio in 1923. He
established a trust and left a very generous bequest of $8000.00 for the creation and
future maintenance of one of Ohio’s first Kindergarten Classes in Bradford. The Trust
that Aaron created has served the Bradford Community well over the years and is today
still providing partial funding for the current Kindergarten classes and a preschool
program.
Page 6 of 15
The Bradford Railway Y.M.C.A.
On October 13, 1905, The Railway Y.M.C.A. was opened. It was built to try to
help decrease the fighting, drinking, and gambling that were a big problem at the time.
By offering alternative recreation and affordable living quarters for the railroad men, the
problems decreased. The Y.M.C.A. became well known up and down the rail line. It was
truly considered a home away from home for many railroad workers.
The Bradford Railway Y.M.C.A. - 1907
Bradford’s Hometown Hero
From 1914 to 1927 Bradford had a hometown son, Allen Sutton Sothoron, play
Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns. He was one
of the last legal spitball pitchers to play Major League Baseball. When the spitball was
determined to be illegal in 1919, a select few pitchers (17) were allowed to continue the
practice as long as they were in a league, and Allen was one of them. While playing for
the Cleveland Indians, in 1921, Sothoron was 12-4 and pitched 178 innings with out
giving up one home run. Allen Sothoron later managed minor league baseball. He also
managed the St. Louis Browns briefly in 1933 and coached both St. Louis teams (Browns
and Cardinals) until he died June 17, 1939 in St. Louis.
Page 7 of 15
Allen Sutton Sothoron
Pitcher for the Cleveland Indians
1921
The 1920 Bradford Fire
On the evening of August 3, 1920 Bradford’s future was drastically changed.
About 10:30 PM, two men were hurrying home after working at the local Railway
Y.M.C.A. As Johnny Layer and Delmar Faun passed the Arnold Lumber Company on
Miami Avenue they caught the strong aroma of coal oil. They then spotted the first
flames at the lumberyard. The two men immediately ran to sound the alarm bell for the
fire department. By the time the fire department arrived at the scene the flames had
grown and turned into a raging, fast moving fire. The railroad had summoned its fire
brigade to help with hoses, ladders, and making water available to the city. The fight to
kill the growing fire had begun.
Page 8 of 15
North Miami Avenue
Bradford, Ohio - 1907
At the telephone exchange, across the street from the burning lumber company, an
operator by the name of Anna Lehman worked feverishly at the switchboard to summon
out of town help. She finally left the building only minutes before the exit was closed off
and the building consumed by the now intense fire.
Once the alarm had been sounded and requests for help sent to area fire stations,
in little over an hour, fire departments from Versailles, Piqua, and Covington arrived to
help. By this time the fire was pure raging destruction. The heat was so intense that it had
blistered nearby homes and the Railway Y.M.C.A. Many residents awakened from the
noise and commotion.
Seeing the night sky filled with floating, burning embers and realizing the danger
to their village and homes, they began helping in the fight to end this tragic nightmare.
Other residents became frightened and fearing for their lives grabbed their children,
began packing their belongings and left town for safer quarters.
Men were in the streets using anything that would carry water to douse the
flames. Panic-stricken merchants were trying to save as much of their goods as they
could by dragging them out of the stores and piling them into the dirt streets. When the
heat and the flames got closer, the goods would be picked up and moved a little further
away. It was to no avail. Before the night was over all the merchandise that had occupied
the stores in Bradford’s business district were lost to the flames, smoke, dirt, and water.
Page 9 of 15
Pleas for further assistance and help were being sent out via the railroad. When
the telephone exchange burned, wires were melted and all communications with the
village were cut off. More help would not arrive till early morning. The water supply was
very low and finally gave out. It would become an all night losing battle with severe
losses to the community.
The Great Fire, as local residents still call it today, swept through the business
district destroying 34 businesses and 12 homes most of which were located in the Iddings
block of the village at the corner of Main and Miami Streets. Nate Iddings owned this
area of buildings and property. This was the very heart of the Bradford business district.
The final estimate of losses totaled to well over $1,000,000.00. Later it was discovered
that practically none of the businesses were insured so they could never afford to rebuild
what had been lost.
Bradford Fire Damage
Morning of August 4, 1920
Page 10 of 15
The Iddings Block and the Arnold & Sons Lumber Co.
Main Street and Miami Avenue in Bradford, Ohio
Totally Destroyed by the Bradford Fire
In the next days that followed the news of the devastation and tragedy swept the
state and the nation. The fire was the talk of the railroad workers all along the railroad
lines both East and West. The tragedy was on everyone’s lips. Bradford, sadly, had made
the papers. All were lead stories.
Some of the local headlines were:
BRADFORD IS SWEPT BY MILLION DOLLAR FIRE THAT DESTROYS PART
OF BUSINESS SECTION OF COMMUNITY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORE THAN SCORE
OF FAMILIES ARE MADE HOMELESS BY FLAMES.
Troy Daily News-August 4, 1920
BRADFORD PRACTICALLY WIPED OUT
The Piqua Daily Call-August 4, 1920
DISASASTEROUS FIRE VISITS BRADFORD
The Greenville Democrat-August 4, 1920
BUSINESS SECTION OF BRADFORD ALMOST WIPED OUT BY FIRE
Greenville Daily Tribune-August 4, 1920
BLAZE SWEEPS BRADFORD
Page 11 of 15
The Dayton Journal Herald-August 5, 1920
PROBE $1,000,000 BRADFORD FIRE
Dayton Daily News-August 4, 1920
The American Legion took up arms to guard and protect the city against looters.
The fire found many sightseers, distant reporters, and photographers traveling to
Bradford to see the devastation first hand. They arrived from all points to discover that
nearly all the restaurants and grocery stores had been destroyed. It was sadly realized by
these visitors that many Bradford residents were suffering, homeless, and going hungry.
Many collections were taken up and money offered to help get homes cleaned up and
households back in order. In an editorial plea published in the Piqua Daily Call the gravity of the
situation is explained and compared to the 1913 flood.
Lend a Helping Hand
During the dark days following the terrible flood of 1913 when Piquads
hungered and when they were cold, the good people of Bradford realizing that
assistance was highly necessary in order to prevent actual suffering, packed a car load
of provisions, bed-clothing, and fresh dairy products and dispatched this life saving
shipment to this city. Children and grown-ups were given food and the amount of good
that this carload did is not to be reckoned in words or figures.
Bradford People were not asked for food for the hearts of Piquads were too sore
and too full of sorrow to think of aid when the awful significance of the flood was
before them occupying their every thought and staggering them with its magnitude.
Bradford today is suffering from the effects of a calamity as great in its scope
and as fearful to that village as the flood was to Piqua and surely Piquads will not even
have to be asked to contribute to a fund to be raised but only notified that a fund is
being raised for the relief of those families and merchants who lost their all in the fire
Tuesday night.
Returning the gift of Bradford villagers of flood times is a privilege that
Piquads will not overlook and the purse strings of all should be opened wide to help
those who helped us when we were in dire distress. It is hoped that five hundred or
more dollars will be received to be distributed by a committee to those in Newberry
Township who need help and who will accept aid from Piqua citizens who accepted aid
from Bradford when personal pride and feeling was discarded through the stern
necessities brought about by calamity.
Persons will have the opportunity to give to the cause at the Chautauqua
tonight. If you can not be there appoint a friend to drop your money in the box but let
every man and woman in the city contribute something and repay with tenfold interest
the debt of gratitude that is owed the Bradford citizens.
Piqua Daily Call Editorial-August 5, 1920
A volunteer team from the Red Cross arrived to give aid and assistance with food,
temporary shelter, and clothing. Volunteers arrived from everywhere. Bradford was hurt
and in need and the surrounding communities of Miami County answered their call.
Page 12 of 15
The Deputy State Fire Marshal also arrived to investigate the scene and try to
determine the cause of the fire and whether or not arson was involved. A number of
witnesses that were the first to arrive at the fire were interviewed. The final official cause
was listed as arson. No suspects were ever interviewed and no arsonist was ever found or
charged. The fire marshals report also stated that 4 other fires had been reported over a
four-week period prior to the August 3rd fire at the Arnold Lumber Company. All 4 fires
were caught in time before any damage could be sustained. Arson was highly suspected
in follow up investigations of those fires by the fire marshal.
Due to poor emergency planning and the lack of water, the fire won out. Because
of the many businesses not being insured for the losses, the fire that was ignited and
swept through Bradford, Ohio on the night of August 3, 1920 dealt such a devastating
blow to the community that it never fully recovered. Only a hand full of businesses would
be able to rebuild.
Below is a list of businesses that were affected by the August 1920 fire:
Arnold & Sons Lumber
The First National Bank of Bradford
Lower’s Drug Store
A.R. Patty General Store
The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Lodge
P.C. Katherman Confectionary
U.S. Post Office of Bradford, Ohio
C.E. Walter Barber Shop
Porter & Stover Furniture
Ora Stover Phtography
C.E. Livingston Pool Room
Tom Maniaci’s Fruit Store
The Star Theatre
“Mack’s” (McDonnell) Meat Market
Arnold & Iddings Elevator
Westerville Cream Station
Dr. G. Bausman’s Office and Residence
Albert Wise Boarding House and Residence
L.E. Harvey Law Office
Coppock Bros. Meat Market
Moore’s Hardware
Mauck’s Milk Depot
George Drees Meat Market
John Zimmerman’s Barber Shop
S.F. Mcarty’s Shoe Store and Dry Cleaning
O.L. Boyer Grocery
J.F. Erisman Bakery
Stahl & Payne Clothing
Boyer & Moore Hardware
Hudson’s Pool Room
Parin & Blizzard’s Tin Shop
Page 13 of 15
One year after the fire many businesses were recorded but the number has never
been as large as before the fire. Today, it is truly unbelievable that Bradford was ever
such a busy and populated city. During Bradford’s Golden Years the railroad was such a
driving force but there was more than just the railroad. The train travelers stopped here on
a regular basis. When that happens it fosters a need for restaurants, hotels, and movie
houses. There were 2000+ railway workers working 24/7 at the yards, most with homes,
families and children in Bradford. This created a need for family businesses, churches,
and schools. All located through out the town. The list recorded below is less than half of
what existed the year before the fire. Businesses recorded in 1921 after the fire were:
Business
Notes
Allen’s Pharmacy……………………………….……John R. Allen, Prop.
D. Arnold & Son……………………………………..Lumber & Coal
B.N. Bates……………………………………….…………Garage
W.W. Bosserman………………………………………General Store
O.L. Boyer……………………………………………General Store
Boyer & Moore……………………………………….Hardware Store
Bradford Mercantile Co……………………………..Department Store
Bradford Tire & Repair…………………………………....Garage
Bradford & Gettysburg Electric Light & Power Co………Utility
Crystal Leaf Tobacco Co…............................................Wholesaler
(A branch was located in Pittsburg Pennsylvania)
George Drees…………..…………………………..Grocery & Livery Supplies
R.R. Dubois………….…………………………….Grocery & Livery Supplies
Albert Ellison……………………………………………….Painter
J.C. Erisman………………………………………..Baker & Confectionery
Fashner Bros…………………………Electrical Supplies and Auto Repair
J.A. Fifer…………………..……………………….Grocery & Livery Supplies
Geo. Galligan…………………………………………………..Garage
Ivan Hudson………..………………Cigarettes, Confections, and Billiards
P.C. Katherman………………………………….……….Confectionery
W.R. Laughman………………………..……………..Blacksmith & Livery
Little Printing Co…………………………………….Printers & Publishers
A.P. Lower………………………………………………Drugs & Medicines
S.F. McCarthy……………………………………………Shoes & Shoe Repair
(A branch located in Piqua)
Ross McCool………………………………………………….Meats
W.W. McDonnell….…………………………………..Restaurant & Meats
Tom Maniaci…………………………………………..Fruits & Vegetables
Miller Furniture Co…………………………………Furniture & Upholstery
(A branch, Isreal B. Miller, in Gettysburg, Ohio)
Miller & Wessinger………………………………..………Service Station
R.W. Minnich………………………………………………..Coal & Ice
Parin & Blizzard……………….…………………….Plumbers & Hardware
A. B. Patty…………………….……………………..General store & Livery
Page 14 of 15
Stahl’s Shoe Store…………………….Boots, Shoes, Leather, and Findings
W.D. Wilson………………..……………...Feed Grain & Elevator
W.D. Zimmer & Co………………….………………Dry Goods & Clothing
(A Branch is located in Brookville, Ohio)
A.R. Zimmermn…………………………Carpenter, Contractor & Builder
Later on a railroad strike and the removal of the terminal and roundhouse would
change Bradford’s role in the railway business. The advent of diesel fuel meant that the
steam trains no longer needed to stop for water and fuel. That would land the final blows
to the once thriving railroad community of Bradford, Ohio. The trains didn’t stop
anymore, the just went on through and finally on March 19, 1985 the tracks were
removed.
There are a few businesses in Bradford, Ohio today. Only “Patty’s IGA Grocery
Store” has continued to remain in business all these years. Bradford lives on as a small
farming community rich in the history of once being a bustling, growing community and
one of Ohio’s great railroad hubs.
If you are interested in reading or studying more about the history
of Bradford, Ohio, here is a list of books that you may want to
read. The Bradford Public Library has copies of them all.
History of Miami County 1880………………………..W.H. Beers and Co.
Miami County History 1807-1953…The Miami County Sesquicentennial Committee
History of Miami County Ohio ……………….The Miami County Historical Society
Bradford Through the Years……………………….......Robert E. Perry, Author
Bradford the Railroad Town……………………………Scott D. Trostel, Author
The Bradford Fire – 1920………………………………..Scott D. Trostel, Author
Bradford Centennial -1966…………..…The Bradford Centennial Book Committee
When the Railroad Leaves Town……………..….Joseph P. Swieterman, Author
The Lincoln Funeral Train………………………………Scott D. Trostel, Author
Miami County, Ohio
A Pictorial History
Celebrating 200 Years…………....2007 Miami County Bicentennial Committee
Page 15 of 15