Bradley, Illinois

History

In 1891, North Kankakee was established when the David Bradley Plow Works established a factory, and in recognition of this, in 1895, the town changed its name to "Bradley City" (later Bradley). Bradley was mostly a blue collar town, with the Kroehler furniture factory and the Roper stove factory, a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck, being the major employers.

In the 1980s, as elsewhere in the Midwest, these factories closed, and after their closures, parts of those factories burned to the ground. However, by the end of the decade, things changed. In 1989, a new shopping center called Bradley Square was built with Wal-Mart as the first tenant, and more shops followed. Northfield Square Mall opened in 1990.

Geography

Bradley is located in central Kankakee County. It is bordered to the south by the city of Kankakee and to the west by the village of Bourbonnais. Interstate 57 passes through the village, with access from Exit 315 (Illinois Route 50). I-57 leads north 56 mi to Chicago and south 76 mi to Champaign.

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Bradley has a total area of 6.93 sqmi, all land.

Demographics

There were 5,746 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.76% were married couples living together, 13.16% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.68% were non-families. 28.73% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.81% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.29 and the average family size was 2.63.

The village's age distribution consisted of 23.0% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $54,824, and the median income for a family was $68,360. Males had a median income of $45,392 versus $29,319 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,813. About 8.3% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Places of local interest

• Northfield Square Mall

Economy

CSL Behring operates a large manufacturing plant near the southern portions of the village. The facility produces plasma derived medications and equipment. In 2018 it was announced that the existing plant was to undergo a massive expansion that could possibly take up to twelve years to complete. The company bought up land to the south of the existing facility that previously housed a cooking oils plant operated by Bunge Limited, and plans to build upon that open space as a part of the large upgrade. The old cooking oils plant had ceased operations in 2015. Once complete, the plant will be split into two portions- the north campus, which includes the now upgraded existing plant, and the south campus- the new property that is currently being constructed. The project is expected to create over 200 jobs and is accruing about 450 million dollars in construction expenses.

Monical's Pizza, an American regional pizza chain (locations in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin), has its corporate headquarters in Bradley.

Transportation

River Valley Metro provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Bradley to destinations in the Kankakee area. Bradley is located along the Illinois Central Main Line.

References

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. {{GNIS. 2398163
3. "Explore Census Data".
4. US Census Bureau. "Gazetteer Files".
5. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
6. "System Map".