James Adam Bradley

James Adam Bradley (February 14, 1830 – June 6, 1921) was a businessman, financier, philanthropist, real estate developer, and Republican Party politician from New York City who is credited as the founder of Asbury Park, New Jersey, which he established in 1871 as the first temperance resort town on the Jersey Shore. He was also involved in the development of Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach, which bears his name.

Bradley represented Monmouth County in the New Jersey Senate from 1894 to 1897.

Early life and education James Adam Bradley was born on February 14, 1830, in Rossville, Staten Island to Hannah and Adam Bradley. He was educated in New York City.

At age sixteen, in 1846, he became an apprentice brush maker for Bernalds & Weeks in New York City.

As the founder of Asbury Park, Bradley served as the town's first postmaster from 1874 to 1884 and established the city's first newspaper, the Asbury Park Journal (1876–1910), serving as its editor and proprietor until 1882. Bradley began Asbury Park's first sewerage system in 1881, and set up water & gas works in 1884. Bradley also served as the first mayor (1893–1902) and as a councilman. As mayor and councilman, Bradley strictly enforced his vision of the city as a dry town. He also strictly barred or discouraged hot dogs and female bathing dresses and enforced a 10 p.m. curfew.

A statue of Bradley stands in front of the Paramount Theater and Convention Hall complex in Bradley Park. Constructed shortly after his death to mark the 50th anniversary of the city's founding, a campaign began in 2017 to remove the statue based on Bradley's history of instituting segregation on the beach and boardwalk that he owned. Bradley was pressured into this by hotel owners and a campaign by the Asbury Park Daily Journal upon complaints of White visitors in 1885. Previously, the oceanfront was open to all. Bradley openly explained his motivations to Black groups. He felt that should Asbury Park remain integrated and cease to attract White visitors, economic ruin would result. The city's economy was negatively impacted in the 1970s when the number of White visitors declined after the beach and boardwalk were reintegrated. Members of the Asbury Park Historical Society acknowledged Bradley's use of segregation but opposed removal of the statue.