It contains two towns, Campbell Hill on the railroad named above, 4 miles (6.4 km) from its rival, Ava.

This village of Bradley was surveyed and laid out by Edward Newsome, county surveyor, and certified on January 10, 1874.

A somewhat prospective but nonetheless partly critical historic description reads "St. Louis & C. R. R. has a station here, and Bradley is deserted, and its glory has paled in the presence of the more youthful competitor.

"[citation needed]" The source goes on to say that the township had one school building built in 1877, at the considerable cost to the taxpayers of about $1,200, with architectural expertise as well as taste and culture.

John Hanna had a drug store, the custom and merchant mill, which was formerly run by Thomas Woods and William Mohlenbrock, "a large and well-conducted establishment, and afford[ed] the farmers a home market for their grain".

In the eastern part, the land is somewhat broken, but of good quality; in the south and west the surface is smooth.

Some exceedingly well-tilled farms are found in this section and the traveler through Bradley meets evidence of thrift and plenty on every hand.

The old log school-houses have largely disappeared, and new frame buildings, comfortably seated and well lighted, are superseding them.

Kinkaid and Beaucoup Creeks have their source within its limits, the former flowing southward and the latter in a northeasterly direction.

The St. Louis and Cairo Railroad enters it from the north and runs a south-easterly course, leaving in the east, a little more than one mile (1.6 km) from the south line.