The earliest name of the settlement was Wait's River Town or Waitstown,Silas McKeen, A History of Bradford, Vermont (J.D. Clark & Son: Montpelier, Vermont: 1875), pp. 29-30. in honor of Joseph Wait, a member of Rogers' Rangers."Bradford" in The Vermont Encyclopedia (eds. John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand & Ralph H. Orth: University of Vermont Press, 2003), p. 61. The town was originally part of Gloucester County in the Province of New York before becoming part of Vermont. In 1770, the town was established by New York patent: 3,000 acres (1200 hectares) were granted on May 3, 1770, and the town was named Mooretown after Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet, then the royal governor of New York. On October 23, 1788, at the request of town's residents, the town was renamed Bradford by the Vermont General Assembly, likely after Bradford, Massachusetts. According to the Vermont Encyclopedia, Bradford "has always been an industrial and commercial center for the surrounding rural towns and villages."
