Most of Bridgeport was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the Columbia River Bridge at Bridgeport and the Gallaher House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Bridgeport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).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 54% 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.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bridgeport’s 11.2 sits above most of its state (85% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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.
The area that is now Bridgeport was settled in the late 19th century and originally named Westfield. Some of the earliest settlers in the area were Chinese miners extracting gold from the banks of the Columbia River. Developers purchased the town in 1892 and renamed it Bridgeport after where they had come from, Bridgeport, Connecticut. The city of Bridgeport was officially incorporated on March 21, 1910. The biggest economic boom to come to the city came from the building of the massive Foster Creek Dam, later renamed the Chief Joseph Dam, just upstream from the city limits.
The Bridgeport post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bridgeport rank for history?
Bridgeport is more historic than 54% 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?
Two places: the Columbia River Bridge at Bridgeport (listed 1995) and the Gallaher House (1995).
How old are the homes in Bridgeport?
10% of Bridgeport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
Date?
2007
2006
