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10655 Centerville Road
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| 1910 | Mary Bradley starts selling her sausage to the local community. |
| 1927 | Bradley's Country Store is constructed. |
| 1984 | Bradley's Farm Complex is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. |
| November | Bradley's Fun Days |
Since 1927, Bradley's Country Store has been a landmark on Centerville Road. A leisurely 12 mile drive out of Tallahassee along a scenic canopy road, Bradley's offers "A Link with the Past." This rural store offers freshly made country sausage, grits and cane syrup, as well as other goods. Each November, the Bradley family hosts Fun Days to showcase Leon County's rural lifestyle.
Bradley's Country Store is located on Centerville Road, about 12 miles out of Tallahassee, in the vicinity known as Moccasin Gap.
Carved out from older estates, the Bradley farm grew from 60 acres in 1888 to 150 acres in the early twentieth century. The Bradleys built a board-and-batten farmhouse in 1893, adding on to it in 1903.
They reflected the self-sufficiency of the small Leon County farmer of the time. They traded the milk, butter and eggs they produced for tobacco, rice, coffee and other needs. They often stored these goods, selling them to their neighbors at a later date.
In 1910, Mary Bradley began making extra sausage, selling them to the local community from her kitchen window. As business grew, the Bradleys began trading out of the "shed room" on the back of the 1893 house. They also traded cane syrup and corn meal.
They constructed a cane press and syrup furnace in 1915, and a few years later built a syrup house to store the bottled cane syrup until its sale. The complex continued to grow with relocation of a commissary to the property in 1922, and later construction of a grist mill, smokehouse, and sausage processing plant.
In 1927, they constructed Bradley's Country Store, a wood frame vernacular store complete with front porch, galvanized metal siding and tin roof. At one time, stores like this were a common scene in rural Leon County. Now, Bradley's is the only historic store remaining in operation.
Third and fourth generation members of the Bradley family continue to operate the store, which along with the rest of the farm complex was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Bradley's is well-known for its country smoked sausage, cane syrup and grits still manufactured on the property. They proudly proclaim their business provides "A Link with the Past."
They annually sponsor Bradley's Farm Days the weekend before Thanksgiving. This community event attracts over 5,000 visitors from the region to experience country crafts and home-grown food products.
Visit their site at: www.bradleyscountrystore.com
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