Bradford is a census-designated place (CDP) and historic district in the towns of Westerly and Hopkinton in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States.

The CDP as defined by the United States Census Bureau is located only in Westerly.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.9 km2 (1.9 sq mi), all land.

The 2020 United States census counted 1,457 people, 556 households, and 312 families in Bradford.

The RI DEM (Department of Environmental Management) was not responding to local complaints about the contamination so the Bradford Coalition 2 Stop Pollution, a community group of homeowners and tenants, lobbied to reduce BDA's pollution.

[19] A civil lawsuit was successfully filed in 2005 in collaboration with the TAC (Toxic Action Center),[20] RIPIRG (Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group) and Sierra Club.

The BDA settled in November 2005, agreeing to pay $150,000 in fines and make improvements on the textile mill to reduce pollution.

The plant will build taller smokestacks, install a soot-reducing device and better manage its sewage sludge pond.

[21] “State and federal environmental regulators had given BDA a free pass for years,” explained RIPIRG Advocate Matthew Auten.

“By requiring the company to significantly upgrade its air pollution and water pollution controls, this settlement demonstrates the important role that citizens can and often must play in enforcing our environmental laws.”[22] In 2011, BDA's success was already in decline [23] and as of 2019, the association was shut down and site sold.