Bradfordton, Illinois
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Gardner Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62711. The Survey maps it on the Springfield West quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 19 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1907 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1930 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Springfield West quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Springfield West quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Springfield West quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
4,009 words on this townshipHistory of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881 names this settlement in its chapter on Gardner Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Mrs. Elizabeth Hall, whose maiden name was Foster, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, and married there to John Hall, and moved to Adair county, Kentucky, and Mr. Hall died there. His widow and children moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1830, north of Spring creek, and six miles west of Springfield. Mrs. Hall was married there to Samuel Willis, and in 1844 or '45, moved to DeWitt county, where Mr. Willis died. She now lives with her son.
Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.
Cross Plains post office was established in 1871, with J. M. Slater as postmaster. Richland post office was established at an early day, on the west line of the township, with Constantine Foster as postmaster. On the completion of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, it was removed over the line into Cartwright township, at Richland station. In 1876, an office was established at Bradfordton, with George Shaw as postmaster. The present postmaster is Lewis Tomlinson. The office is at Bradfordton station, on the Ohio -<fc Mississippi Railroad. In addition to these, Farmingdale has an office.
Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.
George Gregory, post office, Bradfordton; son of Benjamin and Catharine Gregory, who were both natives of England, where they both died. They had eight children, viz: Hannah, born 1806; George, born 1808; Bessie, born 1810; Joseph born 1812; May, Catharine and Emma, d te unknown. The subject ot this sketch was the second child, and was born January 8, 1808, and was apprenticed to the machinist trade. After becoming free, he came to America in 1836, and followed his trade in the city of Springfield, having purchased a shop, and carried on the business until 1840, when he began to run on the Northern Cross Railroad from the Illinois river to Springfield; continued that business until it was sold to Dunlap and Lamb and became the Great Western. He spent two winters in Louisiana, making sugar. He purchased land where he now lives, and in 1830, married Miss Sarah Nohls, daughter of John and Sarah Nobis. She was born in England in 1810. They have ten children, viz: George I., born February 2, 1832; Isaac, November 6, 1834; Samuel, September 30, 1836; Jacob, September 23, 1838; Benjamin, January 12, 1842; Elizabeth, January 25, 1844; Mary, April 24, 1848; Emma, April 13, 1852; Eliza, January 6, 1854; George J., December 28, 1856. George was killed by a horse running away with him, January 1, 1842; Samuel was killed by being thrown from a horse January 11, 1868; Benjamin died in his fifth year. The subject of this memoir owns three hundred acres of land, worth $100 an acre. Mr.
Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Gardner Township - it names this place 5 more 5 times.
Fires near this place
7 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Bradfordton between 2010 and 2013, burning about 11 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.1 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BISHOP |
| 6 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-0000108 |
| 6 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | OSWOLD |
| 3 April 2011 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 11106 |
| 28 March 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | DOBRON |
| 16 October 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | HURT |
| 29 January 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | FRAASE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bradfordton: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport Landfill Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bradfordton in 6 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 3 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bradfordton | $10,000 | A large pine tree was blown onto a house near Jefferson Street and Churchill Road. |
| May 2023 | Flash Flood | Bradfordton | $2,000 | Numerous neighborhood intersections were flooded. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Bradfordton | - | Numerous streets in downtown Springfield were flooded. Water was flowing across Jefferson Street between 6th and 9th, the intersection of Jefferson Street and Amos Avenue, and the intersection of 3rd and Capitol Avenue. |
| February 2008 | Flash Flood | Bradfordton | - | Rapidly rising water was reported near the intersection of Koke Mill Road and Washington Street on the west side of Springfield. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Bradfordton | - | no account filed |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bradfordton | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bando | 1.6 miles | 19 | |
| Riddle Hill | 2.9 miles | 14 | |
| Archer | 2.9 miles | 19 | |
| Farmingdale | 3.5 miles | 14 | |
| Cody | 3.7 miles | 19 | |
| Leland Grove | 4.5 miles | 19 | |
| Jerome | 5.0 miles | 19 | |
| Coleman | 5.1 miles | 19 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 422496. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








