Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
1854 - Bridgeport

Bridgeport, a city and seaport of Fairfield county, Connecticut, is -situated on an arm of Long Island sound, at the mouth of Pequannock river. By railroad it is 18 miles W. S. W. from New Haven ; 58 miles N. E. from New York ; 54 miles S. W. from Hart ford ; 178 miles S. W. from Boston. Lat. 41° 10' 30" N.; Ion. 73° 11' 46" W. The city, which is handsomely laid out and beautifully adorned with shade-trees, is built chiefly on a plain elevated some 10 or 12 feet above high- water mark. About half or three-quarters of a mile N. W. of the harbor, there is a sudden ascent of nearly 50 feet, forming a terrace or small table-land about half a mile square. This height, which affords a splendid view of the city and sound, is occupied by a number of elegant private mansions. Iranistan, the residence of P. T. Barnum, Esq., is about 1 1/ 2 mile W. of this place. It is modelled after an Eastern palace, having skylight domes and minarets, and is surrounded with spacious grounds, beautifully adorned with flower-gardens, fountains, statuary, graded walks, and shrubbery. Bridgeport has a large coasting trade, and a number of vessels engaged in the whale fisheries. The manufactures are extensive, particularly of carriages. It contains 4 banks. 2 or 3 newspaper offices, a number of hotels, and 10 or 12 churches. The Housatonic and the Naugatuc railroads both terminate in this place. It is also on the line of thee New York and New Haven railroad. A steamboat plies daily between Bridgeport and New York. The harbor is safe, but does not admit vessels of the largest size, there being but 13 feet of water on the bar at high tide. The township, embracing about 10 square miles, was separated from Stratford in 1821, and incorporated in 1830. Population of the township in 1840, 4570; 1850, 7560.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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