Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, a seaport town in the county of Fairfield, Connecticut, United States, is situated on an arm of Long Island Sound, 58 miles N.E. of New York, in 41° 10′ N. lat. and 73° 11′ W. long. It has several iron-foundries and manufactures fire-arms, metallic cartridges, sewing-machines, carriages, harness, locks, blinds, &c. The coasting trade and the fisheries are both extensive. The bar at the mouth of the harbour, which is formed by the Pequonnock Creek, has 13 feet at high water. Bridgeport is the centre of an extensive system of railways, and steamboats ply between it and New York. The township was separated from Stratford in 1821, and the city, formerly called Newfield, was incorporated in 1836. Population in 1870, 19,835.