Historical Commission’s Monthly Tales of Our Town

George Young Bradley, born in West Newbury in 1836, was perhaps the Town’s most notable explorer, having served as oarsman and assistant geologist/naturalist on John Wesley Powell’s 1869 expedition down the Grand Canyon. With a detailed and at times lyrical diary kept secret from his crew mates and his family, Bradley posthumously became the expedition’s most important chronicler. An adventurer with strong ties to home, Bradley grew up in Town and left school to work as a shoemaker. He lived here with his family until he joined the Union Army during the Civil War. He soon returned to shoemaking in West Newbury after being wounded. Several years later he rejoined the Army, which shipped him out west. There he met Powell and was released to serve on the expedition. He returned home to die and is buried with his family at the Bridge Street Cemetery.

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