Bradley Park
Albany Avenue, Walden, Orange County, New York

Directions:

US 87 north to the exit for Route 17; drive 3.4 miles on Route 17 north and take the exit for Route 208; head north on Route 208 for about 20 miles and turn left onto Albany Avenue; in a short distance, the park entrance is on the right.

Or:

Taconic State Parkway to US 84 west; drive a little more than 24 miles and take the exit for Route 208; head north on Route 208 and turn left onto Albany Avenue; in a short distance, the park entrance is on the right.

Geology:

Borders near the Wallkill River.

History:

Thomas Wilson Bradley was born in Yorkshire, England April 6,1844. Republican. Served in the Union Army during the Civil War; member of New York state assembly, 1876; delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1892, 1896,1900, 1908; U.S. Representative from New York 20th District, 1903-13. Received the Medal of Honor in 1896 for action at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863. Died in Walden, Orange County, N.Y., May 30, 1920. Interment at Wallkill Valley Cemetery, Walden, N.Y.  (Source: The Political Graveyard http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bradley8.html)

BRADLEY, Thomas Wilson, a Representative from New York; born in Yorkshire, England, April 6, 1844; immigrated to the United States in 1846 with his parents, who settled in Walden, Orange County, N.Y.; attended school until nine years of age; during the Civil War entered the Union Army as a private; promoted to captain in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry; was aide-de-camp to Major General Mott, Third Division, Second Army Corps; awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor "for gallantry at Chancellorsville"; was brevetted major of United States Volunteers; member of the State house of assembly in 1876; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1892, 1896, and 1900; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1903-March 3, 1913); was not a candidate for renomination in 1912; engaged in banking; president and treasurer of the New York Knife Co.; died in Walden, N.Y., May 30, 1920; interment in Wallkill Valley Cemetery. Biographical Directory of the United State Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000747

1896 – the Walden Library was first established as a circulating library club.

The Library’s greatest benefactor was the Hon. Thomas W. Bradley, resident manufacturer and U.S. Congressman. He provided matching funds for a centrally located village hall which would include a permanent home for the library. The library is a memorial to his wife, Josephine, and daughter, Louise, one of the founders of the 1896 circulating library. The Library became known as the Josephine-Louise Public Library. He was the former president of Walden Knife Co., who was a bank president, a state assemblyman and a member of Congress.

Facilities:

There are 4 baseball fields and tennis courts; picnic tab les; children's playground.  There is also a downhill skiing area bordering Bradley Lane. 

Trails:

12/08/04.  Brother-in-law Cefe and I walked around this area which is mostly ballfields.  There are some woods along the western side of the park, but no apparent trails.  There is a downhill ski area on the northern side of the park.  It heads all the way down to a gravel road that runs parallel to the Wallkill River.  The road runs from the Department of Public Works on the north to the Thruway Shopping Center on the south.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:

Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, * = blooming on 12/08/2004

Trees:
Acer negundo (ash-leaf maple)
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus grandidentata (big tooth aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (pear) planted
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Taxus sp. (yew) planted
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Polygonum scandens (climbing bindweed)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster spp. (aster)
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Daucus carota (Queen Ann's lace)
Echinocystis lobata (wild balsam apple)
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)

Grasses:
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)