Bridgeport (41n10, 73w12 EST) is located in southeastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States and is the largest city by population in Connecticut. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 139,529 people. The city is considered to be part of the greater New York metropolitan area. Its nickname within Connecticut borders is The Park City.
Bridgeport's early years were marked by a reliance on fishing and farming, much like other towns in New England. The city's location on the deep Black Rock Harbor fostered a boom in shipbuilding and whaling in the mid-19th century, especially after the opening of a railroad to the city in 1840. 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 ammunition.
Abraham Lincoln's visit
In February of 1860, Abraham Lincoln came east to speak at Cooper Union in New York City, 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 going over the same ground as 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.Holzer, Harold, Lincoln at Cooper Union, (Simon & Schuster: Neew York), 2004 Chapter 8: "Unable to Escape This Toil," p. 201 ISBN 0-7432-2466-3
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. Charles F. 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."Burr, Raymond F., Abraham Lincoln: Western Star Over Connecticut, Lithographics Inc., Canton, Connecticut (no year given), pages 1 and 15; book contents reprinted by permission of the Lincoln Herald, (Harrogate, Tennessee) Summer, Fall and Winter, 1983 and Spring and Summer, 1984
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 couldn't get in. He received a standing ovation before taking the 9:07 p.m. train that night back to Manhattan.Holzer, Harold, Lincoln at Cooper Union, (Simon & Schuster: Neew York), 2004 Chapter 8: "Unable to Escape This Toil," p. 201 ISBN 0-7432-2466-3 A plaque now stands at the site in Bridgeport where he gave the speech. (In 2006, just across the street, in the Polka Dot Playhouse, President George W. Bush spoke before a small, selected group of Connecticut business people and officials about health care reform.)
Ku Klux Klan in Bridgeport
The Ku Klux Klan, which preached a doctrine of Protestant control of America and supression of blacks, Jews and Catholics, had a following in Bridgeport in the 1920s. Across the state, the Klan had a statewide membership of 15,000 at the peak of its popularity in 1925.DiGiovanni, the Rev. (now Monsignior) Stephen M., The Catholic Church in Fairfield County: 1666-1961, 1987, William Mulvey Inc., New Canaan, Chapter II: The New Catholic Immigrants, 1880-1930; subchapter: "The True American: White, Protestant, Non-Alcoholic," pp. 81-82; DiGiovanni, in turn, cites (Footnote 209, page 258) Jackson, Kenneth T., The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930 (New York, 1981), p. 239
By 1926, the Klan was riven by internal divisions and became ineffective, although it continued to maintain small, local branches for years afterward in Bridgeport as well as Stamford, Norwalk, Darien and Greenwich.DiGiovanni, the Rev. (now Monsignior) Stephen M., The Catholic Church in Fairfield County: 1666-1961, 1987, William Mulvey Inc., New Canaan, Chapter II: The New Catholic Immigrants, 1880-1930; subchapter: "The True American: White, Protestant, Non-Alcoholic," p. 82; DiGiovanni, in turn, cites (Footnote 210, page 258) Chalmers, David A., Hooded Americanism, The History of the Ku Klux Klan (New York, 1981), p. 268From 1915 to 1944, Bridgeport had an estimated 1,500 Klan members.DiGiovanni, the Rev. (now Monsignior) Stephen M., The Catholic Church in Fairfield County: 1666-1961, 1987, William Mulvey Inc., New Canaan, In footnote 210, page 258, which cites Chalmers, David A., ''Hooded Americanism, The History of the Ku Klux Klan (New York, 1981), p. 268
Later history
By 1930 Bridgeport was a thriving industrial center with more than 500 factories and a booming immigrant population.
Like other urban centers in Connecticut, Bridgeport fared less well during the deindustrialization of the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Unemployment rose, crime soared, and the city became known for a large drug problem and also for having an exploding AIDS rate. Many former-industrial sites within the city were discovered to be heavily-polluted, leaving the city with extensive environmental costs and damage. Other sites were simply abandoned and left to burn down, leaving some areas of the city resembling ghost towns.
In the early 21st Century, Bridgeport is rebounding after a loss of jobs and population, and is transitioning into a role as a center of service industries and as an outlying region of the New York metropolitan area. It remains the largest city in the state of Connecticut, although it is often ignored or overlooked by residents of the state.
The towns located in the Greater Bridgeport area are Ansonia, Derby, Easton, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull and Westport.
In 1987, the L'Ambiance Plaza residential project, which was under construction at the time, collapsed killing 28 construction workers.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 50.2 km² (19.4 mi²). 41.4 km² (16.0 mi²) of it is land and 8.8 km² (3.4 mi²) of it (17.53%) is water.
As of the census² of 2000, there were 139,529 people, 50,307 households, and 32,749 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,367.0/km² (8,720.9/mi²). There were 54,367 housing units at an average density of 1,312.0/km² (3,398.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 45.02% White, 30.76% African American, 0.48% Native American, 3.25% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 14.81% from other races, and 5.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.88% of the population.
A typical Street scene in Bridgeport
There were 50,307 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living together, 24.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.34.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,658, and the median income for a family was $39,571. Males had a median income of $32,430 versus $26,966 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,306. About 16.2% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.8% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.
Public High Schools include Central High School which is home to the Central Magnet program., established in 1876, Harding High School which is home to the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) as well as the Health Magnet Program in association with nearby Bridgeport Hospital plus St. Vincent's Medical Center on the north side of Bridgeport and Bassick High School which is home to the Business Magnet.
Bridgeport Regional Vocational Aquaculture School (BRVAS) is located near historic Captain's Cove and is open to students from surrounding towns. It is one of the first schools in the country specializing in marine and aquaculture curriculum. Bullard Havens Technical High School is a vocational high school. Central High School wears school colors of red and black. Harding wears the colors of blue and gold; they are the Presidents.
Other Bridgeport schools include Airway Driving School, The Bridge Academy, Bridgeport Alternative Learning Academy, Bridgeport Hope School, The Children's Center, Community Youth House, Kolbe Cathedral High School, Love Christian Academy, Ltd Driving School, New Beginnings Educational Program, Real Estate School of New England, St. Ambrose School, Six to Six Magnet School, St. Raphael's School, Sugar Plum Nursery Schools & Day Care Center, Training Direct Llc, Woodwrights Inc., Zion Lutheran School (LCMS), Blackham School, Black Rock School, Barnum School, Beardsley School, Bryant School, Columbus School, James Curiale School, P.L. Dunbar School, Edison School, Garfield School, Winthrop School, Skane Special Education Center, Webster School, Wilbur Cross School, St. Andrews School, Park City Magnet School, Multicultural Magnet School, Howe School, Hall School, High Horizons Magnet School, Hallen School, Thomas Hooker School, Maplewood School, Maplewood Annex School, Newfield School, Roosevelt School, Luis Muñoz Marin School, McKinley School, Madison School, Waltersville School, Aquaculture School, and St. Ambrose School.
Bridgeport is notable for having had a Socialist mayor for 24 years; Jasper McLevy served as mayor from 1933 to 1957. Its more recent mayors, including Joseph Ganim, have been plagued with corruption scandals, reflecting a similar pattern found in other urban centers in Connecticut. In June 2006, Mayor John M. Fabrizi admitted that he had used cocaine since taking office, but had not used cocaine for over a year.
Its status as a struggling post-industrial city marked by poverty is well-known within Connecticut, and stands out markedly from its Gold Coast neighbors.
Bridgeport is quite marked by its attachment to famed resident, circus-promoter and once-mayor P.T. Barnum. Barnum built three houses in the city, and housed his circus in-town during winters.
Bridgeport was home to the Frisbie Pie Company. Because of this connection, it has been argued that Bridgeport is the birthplace of the frisbee[3].
The city was mentioned at the beginning of Mark Twain's novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court::‘At the end of an hour we saw a far-away town sleeping in a valley by a winding river; and beyond it on a hill, a vast gray fortress, with towers and turrets, the first I had ever seen out of a picture.:‘"Bridgeport?" said I, pointing.:‘"Camelot," said he.'
Bridgeport is mentioned occasionally on shows focusing on guns and ammunitions from the late 19 to the mid 20th centuries.
As befits his in-town legend, the Barnum Museum is headquartered in Bridgeport. The city is also home to the Discovery Museum and Planetarium, which emphasizes exhibits on science, as well as the Housatonic Museum of Art, located at Housatonic Community College, which has the largest collection of art of any two-year college in the country, thanks to a sizable grant from Burt Chernow.
The Beardsley Zoo is also located in Bridgeport, and is the only zoological center in the entire state of Connecticut. Among the many parks in Bridgeport are Seaside Park and Pleasure Beach on Long Island Sound, and Beardsley Park.
Sports
The recently-built Arena at Harbor Yard serves as the city's sports and hospitality center. Its high success has drawn business away from competitor sites in New Haven and Hartford. Seating 10,000, the Arena serves as the home rink of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL hockey team, as well as the home court of the Fairfield University's basketball team.
The Ballpark at Harbor Yard serves as a minor-league baseball stadium, and was built in 1998 to serve as the homefield of the Bridgeport Bluefish. It is located downtown on a former brownfield site. It is visually prominent to commuters on I-95 or on passing trains.
*There is a fast circulating remix of the popular Ja Rule song New York, New York called Im from Bridgeport, Bridgeport.The song is from local group Devious Dollaz *Bridport is a common place for various hip-hop artists, most notobally the old Jimmy's downtown. *Several artists have had their run-ins with Bridgeport residents. Most notobally the Cuban Linx and Fat Joe incidents. Several people have claimed to smack Rev Run and even snatch LL Cool J's chain.
*WCUM-AM 1450; 1,000 watts; *WDJZ-AM 1530; 5,000 watts *WICC-AM 600; 1,000 watts (daytime), 500 watts (nightime) -- WICC began broadcasting on November 21 1926, when a previous radio station, WCWS, was given a new name, WICC. The last three letters standing for Industrial Capitol of Connecticut. The Bridgeport Broadcasting Company Inc. was the new station's owner. Back then, the station was powered at 500 watts. From 1951 to 1956 one of the station's radio hosts was Bob Crane, who later went on to play Col. Robert Hogan on the Hogan's Heroes television comedy series.[4] from pages on the "History" section of the WICC web site accessed on 29 June, 2006 *WEZN-FM 99.9; 27,500 watts. From the station's web site: "Your local guide to southern Connecticut information and family fun." owned by Cox Radio, Inc. *WPKN-FM 89.5; 10,000 watts; From the station's web site: "WPKN is somewhat inscrutable. We break all of the rules, and we observe few, if any, of the conventions. We have no format whatsoever, we permit our programmers to do whatever they will, and we don't accept funding from the sources which might restrict our freedoms. We are totally accountable to our listeners in that we publish our budget to everyone on our mailing list, and we also invite you to our monthly staff meetings and, in particular, the June meeting at which we discuss the budget. (...) WPKN's programming can be heard on two frequencies: 89.5 from our transmitter at Trumbull, CT and 88.7 (formally known as WPKM) at Montauk on Long Island. If you're driving eastward and you start to lose the 89.5 signal, you can tune over to 88.7 and continue to hear us until about Exit 6 on I-95 in Rhode Island."[5] WPKN web site "About" page accessed on June 29, 2006
Television
*WEDW channel 49; one of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting stations
Bridgeport is at the intersection of many major highways which have contributed greatly to its industrial past. Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway, Route 8 and Route 25, and U.S. Route 1 (The Boston Post Road) all run through the city, with the intersection of Route 8/Route 25 and Interstate 95 located downtown.
Railroad and ferries
The Modern-Looking Bridgeport Station is served a part of intermodal transit hub
The city is connected to nearby New York City by both Amtrak and Metro-North commuter trains. Many residents commute to New York jobs on these trains, and the city to some extent is developing as an outpost of New York-based workers seeking cheaper rents and larger living spaces. Connecting service is also available to Waterbury via Metro-North, and New Haven via Amtrak and Metro-North.
