A Brief County History
New River County was created on December 21, 1858 by an act of the Florida Legislature. December 6, 1861 New River County was divided into two counties. The new county was named Baker County and New River's name was changed to BRADFORD County in honor of Captain Bradford who was killed in the Civil War.
In 1860, New River's population was 3820, In 1861 the population was virtually halved by the carving of Baker from New River. The 1870 Bradford County population was 1325 people and the decrease was not due to a massive migration away from the area, but due to Bradford having been split into several Counties.
According to the Map Guide to U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, by Dollarhide and Thorndale, present day Bradford County was part of the following counties in the following cenuses: 1830 - Alachua / 1840 - Columbia / 1850 - Alachua / 1860 - New River / 1870 to present - Bradford.
