Beardsley Park :"A Place that Would Always be Theirs" By Eric D. Lehman After the success of Seaside Park, Bridgeport was ready to put aside more land for the enjoyment and refreshment of its citizens. When wealthy cattle baron James W. Beardsley donated over one hundred acres ...
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 ...
Gray pigeons and squirrels trouble a leafless suburban street,chattering past gas stations and forgotten hopes, while gray people slouch in gloveless poverty, grime-spattered jalopies clattering through colorless slop. But some children remember that on the pine hill, hidden from the gray houses live yellow monkeys, screaming cosmic glee amidst make-believe jungles, that down the street live ...
Imagine racing down Boston Avenue in a home made, four wheeled, handmade miniature racing car! Bridgeport’s Soap Box Derby was run on July 25, 1936 over a course that was 1,050 feet long. The course ran along Boston Avenue between North Summerfield Avenue and Success ...
Photo: Colonel Henry Mucci Bridgeporter Henry Mucci was born in 1911 to an Italian immigrant family. Despite being initially rejected from West Point as “short,” Mucci became a master of physical endurance and hand-to-hand fighting skills. In World War II, Mucci forged a crew of farmers into ...
It may be surprising to some that Bridgeport operated under Socialist rule for almost a quarter century. Jasper McLevy had stood on street corners for 20 years railing against the greed of political parties, and voicing what he’d do to make life better during the dog ...
When the Merritt Parkway first opened all the way to the Housatonic River in 1940, it was immediately considered one of the most beautiful roads in the United States. Horse and buggies, bicycles, and pedestrians were banned; this was a tribute to the new road ...
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 ...
Theaters of the past, especially, in Bridgeport are indeed gone --virtually disappeared. No longer is Main Street bright with the marquees that once held our attention. Downtown Bridgeport has changed dramatically. I can remember so vividly the Loew’s Poli with the headliner letters announcing the latest ...
Greeting visitors to Beardsley Park is a statue of the man who donated the land to the city of Bridgeport, James Walker Beardsley. Legend has it that Beardsley decided to give the land to the city after seeing an irate farmer tell children to leave a ...
In 1899 the Locomobile began as a steam-powered car. With inventor and electric car manufacturer Andrew Riker’s development of a new gasoline-powered engine for the company, Locomobile was soon one of the most popular cars in the world. The “Number 16” car pictured above won the 1908 Vanderbilt ...
By Abraham Lima This is Part 3 of a 5 Part Series at the Bridgeport History Center: To read the previous articles, use the guide below to navigate. Part 1 “En El Principio, Los Mojados en USA” and “What are Tortillas?” https://bportlibrary.org/hc/hispanic-populations-and-culture/when-the-aztec-eagle-began-her-soar-over-bridgeport-part-1/ Part 2 – “From Puebla ...
