History of Bridgeport, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
was, in the late 17th and most of the 18th century, one of land acquisitions from the native inhabitants, farming and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, Bridgeport's history was one of shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
, whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
and rapid growth. Bridgeport's growth accelerated even further from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century with the advent of the railroad, Industrialization, massive immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, labor movements and socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
until, at its peak population in 1950, Bridgeport with some 159,000 people was Connecticut's second most populous city. In the late 20th century, Bridgeport's history was one of deindustrialization
Deindustrialization
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. It is an opposite of industrialization.- Multiple interpretations :There are multiple...
and declining population, though it overtook Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
as the state's most populous city by 1980.
Early years
Much of the land that became Bridgeport was originally occupied by the Pequonnock Indians of the Paugussett nation. One village consisted of about five or six hundred inhabitants in approximately 150 lodgings.Other than Black Rock and Parts of Brooklawn which were originally part of the township of Fairfield
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
, Bridgeport was originally a part of the township of Stratford
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. It was founded by Puritans in 1639....
. The first English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
settlement on the west bank of the mouth of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
was made in about 1665 and was called Pequonnock. (Some sources have the first settlement as early as 1639 or 1659.) This village was renamed Newfield sometime before 1777. More people settled further inland and to the West and the area collectively became known as Fairfield Village in 1694, a name that was officially changed to Stratfield in 1701, likely due to its location between the already existing towns of Stratford and Fairfield. The ecclesiastical history of Bridgeport begins with the formation of the Stratfield Ecclesiastical Society in 1678 for the purpose of forming a school, with reference to a pastor ministering in Stratfield as early as 1688; and the establishment of a Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
in 1695.
During the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Bridgeport was a center of privateering. Captain David Hawley
David Hawley
David Hawley , Captain in the newly formed United States Navy and Privateer, commanded the USS Royal Savage in the first U.S. naval battle of the American Revolutionary War in 1776.-Biography:...
of Stratfield brought a number of prizes into Black Rock Harbor
Black Rock Harbor
Black Rock Harbor is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut on the Long Island Sound. The Black Rock Harbor Light on Fayerweather Island marks the entrance to the harbor on its east, while St. Mary's by the Sea forms its western beachhead. Seaside Park runs along the northeastern part of the harbor....
. In 1800, Newfield village on the west bank of the Pequonnock was chartered as the borough of Bridgeport, and, in 1821, the township of Bridgeport, including more of Stratfield, was incorporated. Finally, Bridgeort was chartered as a city in 1836.
Bridgeport's early years were marked by a reliance on fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and farming, much like other towns in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. The city's location on the deep Newfield harbor (mouth of the Pequonnock) fostered a boom in shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
and whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
in the mid-19th century. To aid navigation, Bridgeport Harbor Light
Bridgeport Harbor Light
Bridgeport Harbor Lighthouse was a lighthouse in Connecticut,United States, on the west side of the Bridgeport Harbor entrance and the north side of Long Island Sound, Bridgeport, Connecticut in the United States.-History:...
was constructed in 1851 and reconstructed in 1871. Bridgeport's growth accelerated after the opening of a railroad to the city in 1840. Bridgeport was connected by rail first to New Milford
New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford is a town in southern Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States north of Danbury, on the Housatonic River. It is the largest town in the state in terms of land area at nearly . The population was 28,671 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimates...
in 1840, then Waterbury
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
and New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
in 1848, and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1849.
In the 1820s, about the time Connecticut abolished slavery
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, free blacks started settling in a neighborhood that became known as "Little Liberia", whose oldest surviving buildings date to 1848 and are Connecticut's oldest African-American houses.
In the 1830s, East Bridgeport was still largely farmland but the construction of foot and general traffic bridges over the Pequonnock in the 1840s and 1850s opened the area to development and it was not long before the area became a major area for industry.
Bridgeport annexed the village of Black Rock and its busy harbor
Black Rock Harbor
Black Rock Harbor is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut on the Long Island Sound. The Black Rock Harbor Light on Fayerweather Island marks the entrance to the harbor on its east, while St. Mary's by the Sea forms its western beachhead. Seaside Park runs along the northeastern part of the harbor....
in 1870. The annexation added Black Rock Harbor Light
Black Rock Harbor Light
Black Rock Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States, on the south end of Fayerweather Island, that marks the entrance to Black Rock Harbor.-History:...
to the city's navigation aids and, in 1874, Penfield Reef Light
Penfield Reef Light
Penfield Reef Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Connecticut,United States, on Penfield Reef at the south side of Black Rock Harbor entrance on the Long Island Sound, off the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut. Constructed in 1874, it was one of the last offshore masonry lights...
was soon added on the south side of Black Rock harbor. Bridgeport harbor remained active and Tongue Point Light
Tongue Point Light
Tongue Point Light Lighthouse, also known as Bridgeport Breakwater or Bug Light, is a lighthouse on the west side of the Bridgeport Harbor entrance, in the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.-History:The lighthouse...
was constructed in 1895 to mark its west boundary.
In the late 19th century, Bridgeport became the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
. County government was abolished in Connecticut in 1960, but the Fairfield County Courthouse
Fairfield County Courthouse (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
The Fairfield County Courthouse, also known as the Court of Common Pleas, in Bridgeport, Connecticut is a Richardsonian Romanesque brick building built in 1888...
built in 1888 still stands as testimony to that time in Bridgeport's history.
In 1902, rail traffic was simplified with the addition of the Pequonnock River Railroad Bridge
Pequonnock River Railroad Bridge
The Pequonnock River Railroad Bridge is a railroad drawbridge over the Pequonnock River in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Owned by the State of Connecticut and maintained and operated by Metro-North Railroad, it is also referred to as Pequonnock River Bridge, PECK Bridge, and Undergrade Bridge 55.90...
. Trolley service also came to Bridgeport and, in 1910, a major repair and storage facility, the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company Car Barn
Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company Car Barn
The Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company Car Barn is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The building was built in 1910 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 3, 1987...
, was constructed in downtown Bridgeport.
Abraham Lincoln's visit
| 1810 | 1,089 |
| 1820 | 1,500 |
| 1830 | 2,800 |
| 1840 | 4,570 |
| 1850 | 7,560 |
| 1860 | 13,299 |
| 1870 | 19,835 |
| 1880 | 29,148 |
| 1890 | 48,866 |
| 1900 | 70,996 |
| 1910 | 102,054 |
| 1920 | 143,555 |
| 1930 | 146,716 |
| 1940 | 147,121 |
| 1950 | 158,709 |
| 1960 | 156,748 |
| 1970 | 156,542 |
| 1980 | 142,546 |
| 1990 | 141,686 |
| 2000 | 139,529 |
| 2009 | 137,298 (est.) |
In February 1860, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
came east to speak at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where on February 27 he impressed eastern Republicans as an intelligent, dignified statesman and gained support in his bid for the presidential nomination. Since the speech went over well, he made several others (all similar to his Cooper Union speech) in Connecticut and Rhode Island, traveling by train to various cities. After stopping in Providence, Norwich, Hartford, Meriden and New Haven, he made his final speech in the evening of Saturday, March 10, in Bridgeport.
His train was scheduled to stop at 10:27 a.m. in Bridgeport, and he likely met with Republican leaders. "He was entertained at the home of Mr. Frederick Wood at 67 Washington Avenue, and it is said that there he had his first experience with New England fried oysters," wrote Nelson R. Burr in Abraham Lincoln: Western Star Over Connecticut. "Another tradition is that while he stayed in Bridgeport a little girl, Mary A. Curtis of Stratford, presented him with a bouquet of flowers and a bunch of salt hay from the Stratford meadows. ... Where the flowers came from at that season, and how the hay could be cheerfully green, is not explained."
Lincoln spoke in Washington Hall, an auditorium at what was then Bridgeport City Hall (now McLevy Hall), at the corner of State and Broad streets. Not only was the largest room in the city packed, but a crowd formed outside made up of people who could not get in. He received a standing ovation before taking the 9:07 p.m. train that night back to Manhattan. A plaque now stands at the site in Bridgeport where he gave the speech.
Other notables who gave speeches in Bridgeport include Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
who spoke three times at the Klein Auditorium in 1961, 1964 and 1966 and at Central High School
Central High School (Connecticut)
Central High School is a high school in Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut in the United States. It was originally founded in 1876 as Bridgeport High School.In 2003 the school held 2,217 students and 152 teachers...
in 1962; and President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
who spoke before a small, selected group of Connecticut business people and officials about health care reform at the Playhouse on the Green, just across the street from McLevy Hall, in 2006.
Barnum
The city's most famous resident has been circus-promoter and once-mayor P.T. Barnum, who built four houses in the city (IranistanIranistan
Iranistan was a Moorish Revival mansion in Bridgeport, Connecticut that was commissioned by P. T. Barnum in 1848. It was designed by the Austrian-American architect Leopold Eidlitz. At this "beautiful country seat" Barnum played host to such famous contemporaries as Matthew Arnold, George Custer,...
and Waldemere were the most renowned) and housed his circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...
in-town during winters. The Barnum Museum
Barnum Museum
The Barnum Museum is a museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA with an extensive collection related to P. T. Barnum and the history of Bridgeport, Connecticut housed in an historic building on the National Register of Historic Places.- Construction :...
, housed in a building that was originally contracted for construction by P. T. Barnum himself, has an extensive collection related to P. T. Barnum and the history of Bridgeport. In 1949, Bridgeport initiated a Barnum Day parade which has grown into an annual multi-day festival. Barnum, as well as many other notables, is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport
Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport
Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut, was laid out in 1849 in a park-like, rural setting away from the center of the city.The cemetery was designed by P. T. Barnum, who himself is buried there.-Notable interments:...
, in the park-like setting he designed.
The Park City
The 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of Washington Park in East Bridgeport were first set aside as a park in 1851 by William H. Noble and P. T. Barnum, with the land being deeded to the city in 1865. As the city rapidly grew in population, residents recognized the need for more public parks. In 1863, The Standard urged the creation of one or more public parks in the city and a movement to create a park along Long Island SoundLong Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
and Black Rock Harbor
Black Rock Harbor
Black Rock Harbor is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut on the Long Island Sound. The Black Rock Harbor Light on Fayerweather Island marks the entrance to the harbor on its east, while St. Mary's by the Sea forms its western beachhead. Seaside Park runs along the northeastern part of the harbor....
began. By 1864, Barnum and other residents had donated approximately 35 acres (141,640.1 m²) to create Seaside Park, gradually increased to about 100 acres (404,686 m²) by 1884. In 1878, James W. Beardsley, a wealthy farmer, donated over 100 acres (404,686 m²) of hilly, rural land bordering on the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
with a distant view of Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
to the city of Bridgeport on condition that "the city shall accept and keep the same forever as a public park...." In 1881, the city contracted Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, famous for creating New York City's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, to create a design for Beardsley Park. Olmsted described the existing land as "pastoral, sylvan and idyllic" and, in 1884, delivered his plan for a simple, rural park for the residents to enjoy: "[The land donated by Beardsley] is thoroughly rural and just such a countryside as a family of good taste and healthy nature would resort to, if seeking a few hours' complete relief from scenes associated with the wear and tear of ordinary town life.... It is a better picnic ground than any possessed by the city of New York, after spending twenty million on parks.... The object of any public outlay upon it should be to develop and bring out these distinctive local advantages, and make them available to extensive use in the future by large numbers of people." Bridgeport's parks were not all just for picnics and promenades. Newfield Park
Newfield Park
Newfield Park is an outdoor park located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is located in the East end of the city at 698 Seaview Avenue.The historic park has had various notable events over the years.-Baseball:...
was the home of a minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team, the Bridgeport Orators
Bridgeport Orators
The Bridgeport Orators were a minor league baseball team in the now defunct Connecticut League from 1902 to 1914. They were nicknamed the Orators to coincide with the nickname of the team's owner and manager, Baseball hall of famer Jim "The Orator" O'Rourke. In 1904, the team won a league record...
who won their league's championship in 1904. Over time, more parks and attractions were added including 35 acres (141,640.1 m²) Beechwood Park, a zoo established in a portion of Beardsley Park and Pleasure Beach
Pleasure Beach
Pleasure Beach is the Bridgeport portion of a Connecticut barrier beach that extends 2-1/2 miles westerly from Point No Point...
, home to a popular amusement park for many years.
City growth
The city rapidly industrialized in the late-19th century, and became a manufacturing center producing such goods as the famous Bridgeport milling machine, brass fittings, carriages, sewing machines,saddles, and ammunitionAmmunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
. Some employers took steps beyond paying wages for the benefit of their employees, such as the Warner Brothers Corset Company which built the Seaside Institute
Seaside Institute
The Seaside Institute in Bridgeport, Connecticut is a Richardsonian Romanesque rock-faced granite, brick, brownstone and terracotta building designed by Warren R. Briggs and completed in 1887 at the corner of Lafayette and Atlantic avenues, not far from Seaside Park...
as a social and educational facility for its women workers. With the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in Europe in 1914, Bridgeport became a new world arsenal some called "the Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
of America" and Bridgeport's population exploded, growing by nearly 50 percent in a 20 month period.
Rapidly growing industry led to labor unrest. As a city planning consultant put it, "Wages have risen, but so have rents, the price of real estate and the cost of living," going on to give an example a worker earning the prevailing wage whose family had been turned out on the street when unable to meet a 25 percent increase in rent. In the summer of 1915, a series of strikes demanding the eight-hour day
Eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement, also known as the short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. With working conditions...
began in Bridgeport. They were so successful that they spread throughout the Northeast. While thousands took part in the Bridgeport strikes of 1915, few were actually union members and many were women who had been denied membership in craft unions. For instance, the Bryant Electric Company
Bryant Electric Company
The Bryant Electric Company was a manufacturer of wiring devices, electrical components, and switches founded in 1888 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA...
strike was started by five hundred women assemblers and a handful of men who walked off the job. The other workers joined the strike and after two weeks the company acceded to the workers' demands for an eight-hour day, overtime pay and union representation. Similar strikes with similar results played out at factories throughout the city and in the course of a few months, Bridgeport was transformed into an eight-hour day city. Bridgeport came out of World War I and its wartime strikes with a radicalized labor force which, in combination with the labor troubles of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, ultimately led to socialist Jasper McLevy
Jasper McLevy
Jasper McLevy was an American politician who served as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1933-1957. He was a member of the Socialist Party, later leaving in protest to join the Social Democratic Federation....
occupying city hall from 1933 to 1957.
Bridgeport's industrial growth was fueled by, and attracted, immigration
History of immigration to the United States
The history of immigration to the United States is a continuing story of peoples from more populated continents, particularly Europe and also Africa and Asia, crossing oceans to the new land. Historians do not treat the first indigenous settlers as immigrants. Starting around 1600 British and...
from overseas. By 1920, 32.4 percent of the population was foreign born with another 40.4 percent being the children of immigrants. As for the labor force, 73 percent were foreign born. The immigrant neighborhoods were located mostly south of the railroad line, near the factories and to the shore and included eastern and southern Europeans, Scandinavians and Irish. At this point, African Americans constituted 1.6 percent of Bridgeport's population. In later years, much of Bridgeport's labor force would come from other parts of the country and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. By 1990, the African American percentage of the population had increased to 26.6 percent and residents of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
origin constituted 26.5 percent of Bridgeport's population.
By 1930 Bridgeport was a thriving industrial center with more than 500 factories and a booming immigrant population. World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
provided a further boost to the city's industries. Famous factories included Wheeler & Wilson
Wheeler & Wilson
Wheeler & Wilson was an American company which produced sewing machines.- Overview :Allen B. Wilson in 1849 made possible one of the world's greatest industries, and the sound administrative policy of Nathaniel Wheeler and his associates was responsible for the transformation of the industry from...
, which produced sewing machines and exported them throughout the world, Remington UMC, Bridgeport Brass, General Electric Company, American Graphophone Company (Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
), Warner Brothers Corset Company (Warnaco) and the Locomobile Company of America, builder of one of the premier automobiles in the early years of the century. The city was home to the Frisbie Pie Company
Frisbie Pie Company
The Frisbie Pie Company was founded in 1851 by William Russell Frisbie in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he bought and renamed a branch of the Olds Baking Company. The company was located on Kossuth Street in Bridgeport's East Side, where nearby school kids tossed the plates around and yelled...
from 1871 to 1958, and therefore it has been argued that Bridgeport is the birthplace of the frisbee
Frisbee
A flying disc is a disc-shaped glider that is generally plastic and roughly in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating....
. In another "first", Bridgeport had the first dental hygiene
Dental Hygiene
Dental Hygiene is a 1980 Iranian short film directed by Abbas Kiarostami....
school in the country, opened in 1913 by Dr. Alfred Fones with a first class of 34 women.
A growing city needed more housing and developers provided it, such as the Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
neighborhood of Sterling Hill
Sterling Hill Historic District (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
The Sterling Hill Historic District in Bridgeport, Connecticut is a historic district that was listed on the NRHP in 1992. The district is a two-block area of 43 urban residential structures dating as far back as 1821. Most of the buildings are from later in the 19th century when the neighborhood...
, the 1880s rental units now preserved as the Bassickville Historic District
Bassickville Historic District
Bassickville Historic District is a historic district in Bridgeport, Connecticut that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It then included 38 contributing buildings....
and the World War I emergency housing for workers that now constitutes the Black Rock Gardens Historic District
Black Rock Gardens Historic District
Black Rock Gardens Historic District is a historic district in the Black Rock neighborhood of Bridgeport, Connecticut.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 and at that time included 12 contributing buildings....
. A rapidly expanding Bridgeport also needed more and modern schools, such as Maplewood School
Maplewood School
The Maplewood School, also known as Grammar School No. 5, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was built in 1893, and was designed by Longstaff & Hurd. The school was enlarged later. And an annex building designed by architect Joseph Northrup was added later...
, built in 1893 and expanded several times thereafter, Central High School
Central High School (Connecticut)
Central High School is a high school in Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut in the United States. It was originally founded in 1876 as Bridgeport High School.In 2003 the school held 2,217 students and 152 teachers...
built in 1876 as Bridgeport High School, Warren Harding High School
Warren Harding High School
Warren Harding High School is a public high school in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The cornerstone of Warren Harding High School was laid on May 10, 1924 and the school opened on September 9, 1925...
(1924) and Bassick High School
Bassick High School
-History:In 1924, the Bassick Family home was demolished to begin construction for a school. The E & F Construction Company was awarded the contract after submitting a bid for $692,946. Architect E.G...
(1929). The new immigrants wanted their own houses of worship, too, such as the Polish
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
community's St. Michael's built in the East Side in 1907 and the Hungarian Jewish community's Achavath Achim Synagogue
Achavath Achim Synagogue
Achavath Achim Synagogue is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The building was built in 1926 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 1995 as West End Congregation--Achavath Achim Synagogue...
built in the West End in 1926.
Bridgeport saw commercial development too, such as the formation of several banks and commercial establishments like D. M. Read's department store
Read's Department Stores
Read's Department Stores was a Bridgeport, Connecticut-based retail chain founded in 1857 by D.M. Read. Known for its classy, upscale merchandise, it was once hailed as New England's largest department store.- Founding and growth :...
in its thriving downtown. In 1933, Lawrence Hoyt, who later went on to found Waldenbooks
Waldenbooks
Waldenbooks , operated by the Walden Book Company, Inc., was an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain and a subsidiary of Borders Group. The chain also ran a video game and software chain under the name Waldensoftware as well as a children's edutainment chain under Walden Kids...
got his start in the book business when he opened up a small book rental business in a corner of Read's. The city is also home to the first Subway Restaurant
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
, opened in 1965, at 5 corners on North Main Street and Jewett, Tesiny and Beechmont Avenues.
Deindustrialization
Like other urban centers in Connecticut, Bridgeport fared less well during the deindustrializationDeindustrialization
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. It is an opposite of industrialization.- Multiple interpretations :There are multiple...
of the United States in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. Suburban flight as well as overall mismanagement, for which several city officials were convicted, contributed to the decline.
From the mid-1960s through the early 1990s, Bridgeport was one of the most dangerous cities in Connecticut. As with many urban New England cities, such as New Haven and Hartford, the city had a high crime and murder rate. In following years, Bridgeport soon became ravaged by urban blight. A large white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
occurred in the city, as it started to become a much more dangerous place to work and live. Soon, the population of the city declined as many company's began laying of their employees, thus dropping city employment rate. The total population dropped from 158,709 in 1950 to 141,686 in 1990. The city also operated many public housing projects, some of which still stand today, and some of which were known nation-wide due to their high crime and deplorable conditions. Such projects were Beardsley Terrace/Trumbull Gardens Apartments in the city's North End, P.T. Barnum Apartments on the West Side, Pequonnock Apartments and Marina Village in the South End, the Green Apartments in the Hollow, and the most infamous: Father Panik Village
Father Panik Village
Father Panik Village was a housing project located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Ground was broken in 1939, and it opened as Yellow Mill Village, the first public housing project in the state. The Village was renamed in honor of Father Stephen Panik in 1955, a Catholic priest from Saints Cyril and...
. Father Panik opened in 1939 as the first of its kind in New England, and the sixth largest public housing project in the county, located in the Lower East Side. It would later be known as one of the worst housing projects in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1982, Bridgeport Housing Authority's projects were deemed deplorable by federal officials and eventually placed the Housing Authority on the country's "troubled list". However, by 1988, the infamous Father Panik Village was torn down. Today, only a vacant lot several blocks in size, remains. The city also experienced problems with arson during this time, leading to whole neighborhoods burning down, at the same time as cuts and company closures occurred to the Bridgeport Fire Department. In 1974, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
moved their headquarters from the city's East Side to neighboring Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
. Other manufacturing companies that had been the symbol of the city also began to relocate out of Bridgeport.
In 1987, the L'Ambiance Plaza
L'Ambiance Plaza
The L'Ambiance Plaza collapse was one of the worst disasters in modern Connecticut history. L'Ambiance Plaza was a 16-story residential project under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut at the corner of Washington Avenue and Coleman Street. Its partially erect frame completely collapsed on...
residential project, which was under construction at the time, collapsed, killing 28 construction workers. It was the worst disaster the city had faced at that point, and one of the worst in Connecticut. Emergency crews from around New England responded to assist Bridgeport's Fire and Police Departments in the rescue and recovery effort.
In 1991, the city filed for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
protection but was declared solvent by a federal court.
Twenty-first century
Through the early 21st century, Bridgeport, a city that despite the longtime burdens of crime, poverty and corruption has taken steps toward redevelopment of it's Downtown, as well as other neighborhoods. Although a plan for a large resort, casino, and high-rises fell through for the Steel Point area, the city still seeks redevelopment plans and projects. In 2004, artists' lofts in the former Read's Department Store on Broad Street first became available. Several other rental conversions have been completed, including the 117 unit Citytrust bank building on Main Street. The economic recession of 2008 has halted, at least temporarily, two major mixed-use projects including the proposed $1 billion waterfront development at Steel Point. However, other redevelopment projects have proceeded, albeit slowly, such as the condominium conversion project in Bijou Square. In 2009, the City Council approved a new master plan for development designed both to promote redevelopment in selected areas and to protect existing residential neighborhoods. In 2010, the Bridgeport Housing Authority and a local health center announced plans to build a $20 million medical and housing complex at Albion Street, making use of federal stimulus funds and designed to replace some of the housing lost with the demolition of Father Panik Village.See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Bridgeport, ConnecticutNational Register of Historic Places listings in Bridgeport, ConnecticutThis is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bridgeport, Connecticut.This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States...
- List of people from Bridgeport, Connecticut