For more than 225 years, the town of Bradford, Massachusetts, led an independent life on the Merrimack River. Stately homes lined its main roads, a classic New England common graced its center, and high on a hill stood Bradford Academy, the town's best-known institution. In November 1896, Bradford's long independence came to an end when the town's voters agreed to annexation by the city of Haverhill. Through the camera's eye, readers can stroll through the old town from the bridge to the Common, east along Salem Street and west to the railroad depot. They can visit Ward Hill, the once-sleepy farming community whose transformation to a planned factory village triggered the annexation.