A history of Bradshaw,
since 1979
Postcards, papers and photographs of Bradshaw from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusBradshaw is a town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 207 at the 2020 census. Bradshaw was incorporated in December 1979 and named for a pioneer settler.
Bradshaw was established in 1979. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 337 to 207 (-39%). Half of its homes were built before 1942.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bradshaw yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Bradshaw’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewA miner asleep in his home. South…, 1946: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Bradshaw, decade by decade
CommonsA miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation, Brad…1946
CommonsBack door of a house. The screening is supplied by the empl…1946
CommonsBedroom in home of the Elige Hicks. Southern Coal Corporati…1946
CommonsChanging room in washhouse for white miners. Southern Coal …1946
CommonsChild of miner walks down the road. This is all the street …1946
CommonsChildren of Clabe Hicks, miner, Ten people, two adults and …19461990s
Nothing in Bradshaw is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bradshaw has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Hindman Ben Franklin in Phelps, 3.1 miles away.
Bradshaw and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as A miner asleep in his home. Southern Coal Corporation, Bradshaw Mine, Bradshaw, McDowell County, West Virginia (1946) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15From Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.