By Eric D. Lehman Wealthy cattle baron James W. Beardsley was watching children play outside one day when inspiration struck. He decided they deserved “a place that would always be theirs.” So, in 1878 he donated to the city more than 100 acres of land at the ...
Poli and Majestic Theaters The Story of Bridgeport, by Elsie Nicholas Danenberg; illustrations by Jesse Benton. Bridgeport, Conn.: Bridgeport Centennial, Inc., 1936 Bridgeport: a Pictorial History, by David W. Palmquist; design by Jamie Backus Raynor. Norfolk, VA: Donning, 1981; 1985 Only in Bridgeport: an illustrated history of the ...
The Bridgeport Lighthouse, shown here in 1930, marked the entrance to the Bridgeport harbor for about 80 years. First constructed in 1871 by the federal government, it ushered in a dramatic increase in harbor activity. For a brief period, the Bridgeport lighthouse was one of the nation’s ...
Bridgeport has often been called a "City of Neighborhoods." There are commonly used designations for the various areas of Bridgeport, each neighborhood historically attracting immigrants from a variety of ethnic groups. What has become the city of Bridgeport is the mixing of citizens who moved here ...
Newfield Park: Home to One of New England’s Most Sacred Baseball Sites by Michael J. Bielawa Of all the lost stadia across the long history of New England’s minor leagues, Bridgeport’s Newfield Park is certainly one of this region’s most sacred sites. Located in the city’s East ...
The Great Fire of 1845 When Bridgeport first became its own city in 1836, one of the first orders of business was to regulate the fire-fighting practices of the day. Without a professional fire crew, chaos reigned at every fire, with no one in charge and ...
