Our company was founded in 1876 by James Rogers and
William Murgatroyd of Bradford, England. They named their
Rhode Island plant Bradford Soap Works. Rhode Island was
the center of the textile industry in the new world...just as
Bradford, England, was the center of the textile industry
in England. Our first product was flake soap for use in scouring
wool.
A few years later, another English immigrant opened a soap
manufacturing plant in Rhode Island under the same name.
Since Messrs. Rogers and Murgatroyd had not registered the
name Bradford Soap Works, they re-named their company
The Original Bradford Soap Works.
By the 1920's, ownership had succeeded to the McIver family.
Although the location of the company's manufacturing
facility changed several times, it was always located on one of the large rivers that flowed through Providence.
In 1931, Bradford moved to its present location in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
