With the invention and expansion of the automobile the little Hamlet of Bradley rapidly became a prosperous roadside town with many businesses like hotels, gas stations, and even a zoo, catering to travelers between San Francisco Bay and cities south, like Los Angeles, for which it was roughly at the half way point. It just as quickly collapsed again when in 1962 US highway 101was widened and rerouted to the opposite side of the Salinas River, cutting traffic through town to a trickle.