Bridgeport, Connecticut (pop. 148,654; met. area pop. 946,327), is the largest city in the state and a major industrial and commercial center. It lies in southwestern Connecticut on the shore of Long Island Sound, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
The production of machine tools is one of Bridgeport’s chief industries. The city also produces medical products and electrical equipment. Bridgeport is a center for defense industries and a major banking center. The Pequonnock River flows through the city and helps form a port for oceangoing ships.
Seaside Park extends for 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) along the Bridgeport shoreline. The park includes a statue of the founder of the Barnum and Bailey Circus and a former Bridgeport mayor, Phineas T. Barnum, who helped build the city. Bridgeport holds an annual Barnum Festival in the summer.
The city is the home of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, and the Barnum Museum. The museum closed in 2010 after it was badly damaged by a tornado. Today, part of the museum is open to the public. The University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University are also in the Bridgeport area.
In 1639, English colonists settled in what is now the Bridgeport area after buying the land from the Pequonnock Indians. The city was first called Stratfield and, later, Newfield. Its name was changed to Bridgeport after a bridge was built over the Pequonnock River in 1800. During the early 1800’s, the city was a shipping and shipbuilding center. Bridgeport became a town in 1821 and a city in 1836. The coming of the railroads in the mid-1800’s brought new industries to the community.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the city completed several urban renewal projects. Downtown development in the 1980’s included the construction of a bank, a hotel, and the Bridgeport Center office building. Bridgeport has an arena that opened in 2001, and an amphitheater that opened in 2021. Bridgeport has a mayor-council form of government.
For the monthly weather, see Connecticut (Climate).
