Bradford Station

Our historic post office on C Street had its beginnings in 1936 when on January 1st construction was begun. The official groundbreaking was on March 5, the building was dedicated on October 22, and it opened for business on November 19, 1936.

William Hayward was appointed as the first postmaster of what was initially called the “Haywood” post office on January 6, 1860. Alonzo Bradford served as postmaster from 1889 to 1894, and then again from 1903 to 1915. His son Harry A. Bradford became postmaster in 1922 and served for 12 years. Haywood was eventually corrected to Haywards, then finally changed to Hayward.

Alonzo Bradford was a Union Army veteran who came to Hayward in 1873, shortly before the community became a city. He brought with him his bride, Mary. A carpenter by trade, Bradford found much to do in the Hayward area, which doubled in population from 1860 to 1880. Besides being postmaster, Bradford built homes, and many of the tank houses, so necessary to a community whose water came from wells.