Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located close to the border with New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Home to an oil refinery, Zippo headquarters and a University of Pittsburgh branch campus, Bradford is the principal city in the Bradford, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,849 at the 2020 census, and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the Pennsylvania oil rush in the late 19th century. The area's Pennsylvania Grade crude oil has superior qualities and is free of asphaltic constituents, contains only trace amounts of sulfur and nitrogen, and has excellent characteristics for refining into lubricants. The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was built in 1876 as one of, if not the first, monorails in America, when Bradford was a booming oil town. World-famous Kendall racing oils were produced in Bradford.
Bradford was the site of an important step in the development of personal aviation. In the 1930s, the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation produced an airplane called the Taylor Cub in Bradford. After a fire at the factory, the company was bought by William T. Piper. After relocating his factory to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, Piper resumed production of a revised design of the airplane first produced in Bradford, which became the world-famous Piper Cub.
The population peaked at 19,306 in 1930, declining to 7,849 as of 2020. Two adjoining townships, home to approximately 9,000 people, make the current population of Greater Bradford about 17,000. Famous Bradfordians include the opera singer Marilyn Horne, the Hall of Fame baseball player Rube Waddell and the five-time All-Star football player Stew Barber. A famous perpetual motion machine hoax was created in Bradford in 1897 by J.M. Aldrich. The hoax was exposed in the July 1, 1899, issue of the Scientific American magazine. Ultimately, Aldrich was sentenced to four months in the county jail.
The Bradford Armory, Bradford Downtown Historic District, Bradford Old City Hall, and Rufus Barrett Stone House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography
Bradford is located in northern McKean County on U.S. Route 219, south of the New York border and south of Route 219's junction with Interstate 86. To the south, US 219 leads to Ridgway. Pennsylvania Route 46 has its northern terminus in Bradford, leading southeast to Smethport, the McKean county seat. Route 346 passes through the center of Bradford as Washington Street and Boylston Street; it leads west to the Allegheny River at the New York border and east the same distance to Eldred.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bradford has a total area of , of which , or 2.12%, are water. Bradford is situated in a valley in the Allegheny Mountains and is surrounded by woods and steep hills. Two branches of Tunungwant Creek enter the city, merge and flow into the Allegheny River to the north in New York.
Bradford Regional Airport is located approximately south of the city, at Mount Alton. The elevation of the city is above sea level, but the airport is at an elevation of above sea level. Because of the higher elevation, the airport often has the coldest reported air temperatures in Pennsylvania. The airport has one of the few National Weather Service stations across the entire northern tier of the state. Temperatures in the city are typically three to seven degrees warmer than at the airport due to the difference in elevation, and actual city temperatures are more representative of other communities in northern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York than are the airport's.
Climate
Bradford has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with cold, long, snowy winters and warm, humid summers. The record low in Bradford is set in February 1934 and the record high is in July 2011. Other notable extremes include a recording on November 29, 1930, and on November 30, 1929, a recording on April 1, 1923, an degree reading on March 30, 1986, and March 29, 1998, and a degree reading on August 29, 1982. Late fall/early winter is especially snowy due to heavy amounts of lake effect snow from Lake Erie and, to a lesser extent, Lake Ontario. Lake effect snow during cold snaps in early spring also helps to raise snowfall totals.