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B+History
History · Bridgeport

Bridgeport dates to 1852, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 95 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1900.

1852founded
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bridgeport’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bridgeport began

When was Bridgeport founded?

1852

Bridgeport dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 1,247 in 19002020 census: 2,264174 years

How historic is Bridgeport?

B+

More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bridgeport’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bridgeport is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bridgeport’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.8% of homes (±5.0) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 95 historic buildings, 423 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 67%
NewerOlder

Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bridgeport’s 423 sits above most of its state (94% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 95 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). Two sources give 1852.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Bridgeport’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Bridgeport Historic District takes in 95 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bridgeport, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1927, drew every building in Bridgeport.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bridgeport’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bridgeport’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBridge at: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

1 listing protects 95 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
95
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Bridgeport Historic District
Bridgeport Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1
Queen Anne1
Richardsonian Romanesque1
Bungalow1
Mission1
Tudor Revival1
Bridgeport Historic DistrictCommercial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Bridgeport’s post office has been open since 1854. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jonesville
1852–1854
Bridgeport
1854–today
Copenhagen
1878–1883
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Battery HillCopenhagen
Gone or out of use
Tennessee River Instituteschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bridgeport
AbbottKirkpatrick

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Bridgeport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bridgeport.

Read it all →

Bridgeport developed after the 1840s, when European Americans established a riverboat landing here along the Tennessee River. This landing was a place for local farmers to trade their crops for other goods. Within a few years, a small hamlet known as "Jonesville" had developed around the landing, and included a trading post, gristmill, warehouses, and several saloons. The Jonesville post office opened in 1852.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bridgeport, 1852 to 1936

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852
    FoundingBridgeport is established
  3. 1852Post officeThe Jonesville post office opens
  4. 1854Post officeThe Jonesville post office closes
  5. 1854Post officeThe Bridgeport post office opens
  6. 1860In the archiveBridge at
  7. 1878Post officeThe Copenhagen post office opens
  8. 1881Born hereRex Kilpatrick is born here
  9. 1883Post officeThe Copenhagen post office closes
  10. 20th century
  11. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bridgeport, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
Bridge atc. 1860Bridge atCivil War newspaper maps from the New York times and the New York herald1862Civil War newspaper maps from the New York times and …Document
Today10 recent
Food at) reenactment of Civil War siege of April 18622010Food at) reenactment of Civil War siege of April 1862ALMap-doton-Bridgeport2004ALMap-doton-BridgeportVIEW SW FROM CANOPY OF L3 TO L12-LOYD BUILDING. - Bridgeport Downtown2000VIEW SW FROM CANOPY OF L3 TO L12-LOYD BUILDING. - Bri…SPILLER BUILDING WITH BRUMMEL AVENUE COMING IN FROM RIGHT. - Bridgeport Downtown2000SPILLER BUILDING WITH BRUMMEL AVENUE COMING IN FROM R…PEYTON BUILDING LOOKING NORTH FROM ACROSS HUDSON AVENUE. - Bridgeport Downtown2000PEYTON BUILDING LOOKING NORTH FROM ACROSS HUDSON AVEN…LOT 5 1920'S BUILDING LOOKING NORTH. - Bridgeport Downtown2000LOT 5 1920'S BUILDING LOOKING NORTH. - Bridgeport Dow…KILPATRICK ROW LOOKING WEST. - Bridgeport Downtown2000KILPATRICK ROW LOOKING WEST. - Bridgeport DowntownGENERAL VIEW OF DOWNTOWN LOOKING OVER RAILROAD TRACK TO WEST. - Bridgeport Downtown2000GENERAL VIEW OF DOWNTOWN LOOKING OVER RAILROAD TRACK …FROM R TO L JONES, SPILLER AND WORDS BUILDINGS. - Bridgeport Downtown2000FROM R TO L JONES, SPILLER AND WORDS BUILDINGS. - Bri…BOTTOM OF ALABAMA AVENUE LOOKING WEST. - Bridgeport Downtown2000BOTTOM OF ALABAMA AVENUE LOOKING WEST. - Bridgeport D…
On the map

Bridgeport on the map, 1936 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bridgeport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bridgeport on the 1936 USGS mapBridgeport on the 1945 USGS mapBridgeport on the 1974 USGS mapBridgeport on the 1983 USGS map1936Bridgeport sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bridgeport.

Every building

Bridgeport, building by building, 1892–1927

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Bridgeport fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bridge at
Retake this viewBridge at, c. 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bridgeport’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bridgeport, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,974

Between 1,247 and 2,974 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bridgeport’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Stevenson4 historic placesA

Questions about Bridgeport’s history

What year was Bridgeport founded?

In 1852, according to Wikidata. Bridgeport’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1900 counted 1,247 people here.

How does Bridgeport rank for history?

Bridgeport is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Bridgeport?

One place: the Bridgeport Historic District (listed 2002).

How old are the homes in Bridgeport?

12% of Bridgeport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1967.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.