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Bridgeport, NJ, Main St., April 2021Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 3.0
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History · Bridgeport

Bridgeport’s post office opened in 1844, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

1844first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Bridgeport began

When was Bridgeport founded?

1844

The Bridgeport post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 389182 years
Founding year: the first Bridgeport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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 writtenNo old photos of Bridgeport are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Bridgeport.Old housesHalf of Bridgeport’s homes were built before 1957.
★ 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.
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The story

How Bridgeport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bridgeport.

Read it all →

Bridgeport, along with Swedesboro (Sveaborg) and Finns Point (Varkens Kill), was one of only three settlements established in New Jersey as a part of the New Sweden colony, the fort at Nya Elfsborg having been abandoned. The settlement was founded around 1650, and originally called Nya Stockholm, "New Stockholm", but the name was changed at a later date.

After the 2001 anthrax attacks, a facility was set up in Bridgeport for the use of a continuous wave accelerator called a Rhodotron, from the Belgian company IBA, to irradiate federal mail.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bridgeport, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Logan Township, NJ municipal building (1), Feb. 20252025Logan Township, NJ municipal building (1), Feb. 2025Bridgeport, NJ cemetery, Feb. 20252025Bridgeport, NJ cemetery, Feb. 2025Bridgeport, NJ Volunteer Fire Company, Feb. 20252025Bridgeport, NJ Volunteer Fire Company, Feb. 2025Bridgeport, NJ, Main St., April 20212021Bridgeport, NJ, Main St., April 2021Chester-Bridgeport Ferry site2012Chester-Bridgeport Ferry siteBridgeport, New Jersey2008Bridgeport, New Jersey

Questions about Bridgeport’s history

What year was Bridgeport founded?

The Bridgeport post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.