Bridgeport, Connecticut is a major city of Connecticut located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Pequonnock River.
Physical geography Bridgeport Harbor is bordered by Long Island Sound and is formed by the estuary of the Pequonnock River and Yellow Mill and Johnson's Creeks, both tidal inlets. Between the estuary and Yellow Mill Pond is a peninsula, East Bridgeport, also known as the East Side, which was once the site of some of the largest manufacturing establishments in Connecticut, most of which no longer exist. On the far side of the Yellow Mill Pond inlet is the East End of Bridgeport, which is the easternmost portion of the city, which includes Pleasure Beach. Above the East End is the Mill Hill neighborhood and the border with Stratford, Connecticut. West of the Harbor and the Pequonnock River is the main portion of the city, with Downtown Bridgeport lining the river, the South End fronting on the lower harbor and Long Island Sound, the West Side between Fairfield, Connecticut and Downtown, and the North End extending from Downtown and the West Side to the border with Trumbull, Connecticut. Numerous factories, some of which are no longer in operation, line western sections the Metro North/New Haven Railroad line from the Bridgeport Station in Downtown, under Interstate 95 in the South End, and through the West Side and into Fairfield. The city is surrounded by hills up to 300 feet in height in the North End, the Upper East Side, and Mill Hill.
There are two major parks in Bridgeport, the "Park City." Beardsley is in the northeasterly part of the city and also contains Connecticut's only zoo, the Beardsley Zoo. It borders Bunnell's Pond, a 33-acre lake. Seaside is west of the harbor entrance and along the Sound in the South End. It has statues in honor of Elias Howe, who is credited with the invention of the sewing machine and who built a factory to manufacture his invention in the city 1863; and of P.T. Barnum, the showman, who lived in Bridgeport after 1846. He contributed much to the city, including the development of the East Side, Mountain Grove Cemetery, and Seaside Park. Seaside Park also has a soldiers' and sailors' monument. In the vicinity were located many upscale residences, now mostly demolished or converted to institutional use.
Aside from the Pequonnock River and Yellow Mill Pond, there is Cedar Creek, a canal-like tidal creek that lies between Black Rock and Seaside Park. Black Rock Harbor lies at the mouth of the creek.
The principal municipal buildings in Bridgeport are the city's two hospitals (St. Vincent's Medical Center and Bridgeport Hospital), the Barnum Museum, the Klein Memorial Auditorium, City Hall, the Fairfield County Courthouse, and the Main Post Office.
Bays and creeks Bridgeport Harbor is one of three (with New Haven and New London) major ports in Connecticut. It is formed by the confluence of Johnson's Creek, Yellow Mill Pond, and the Pequonnock River, and is the main outlet for the Great Meadows salt marsh in Stratford. In Colonial times it was known as "Newfield Harbor." Its large size—relative to the volume of the three small streams that empty into it—is attributable to the fact that, prior to the Wisconsin glaciation, it formed the mouth of the Housatonic River. Lewis Gut is a tidal strait that separates the Great Meadows marsh from Long Beach/Pleasure Beach. It takes its name from Benjamin Lewis, who cultivated oysters in its waters in the 19th century. Johnson's Creek is the estuary of Bruce Brook, at the easterly edge of the city and the westerly limit of the Great Meadows. It is named for the Johnson family, who assembled two large farms on either bank from the small holdings of the "New Field" in the early 19th century. A tide mill was built here shortly after the settlement of Stratford in 1639 (the mill pond backed up waters all the way to Stratford Avenue). In Colonial times it was known as Nessumpaws Creek, Neesingpaws Creek, or even Knees-and-Paws Creek. Walker's Creek (aka Power House Channel) was a tidal outlet from a salt marsh that was filled in to form Newfield and Jessup Parks. It survives today in truncated form as the outlet of the East End Sewage Treatment Plant. Yellow Mill Pond forms the estuary of Old Mill Brook. In 1792 its waters were dammed for the construction of a major tide mill, four stories in height, that was painted yellow. It burned in 1884 (the foundation can still be seen on the southwest side of the Stratford Avenue Bridge) and the dam was deconstructed shortly afterwards. Berkshire Mill Pond was the site of another tide mill at the confluence of the Pequonnock River and Island Brook. The milldam was constructed in 1786 just to the south of the Berkshire Avenue Bridge. The pond was largely filled in the 1940s and '50s for the construction of a shopping center, two drive-in movie theaters, and a collection of automobile junk yards. A small remnant remains. Black Rock Harbor is the located in the westerly portion of the city between Seaside Park and Black Rock. Its upper reaches penetrate the West End. In Colonial times this was considered the deepest and best port in Connecticut west of New London. It was able to accommodate ships of up to 1000 tons right up to the main wharves at the foot of the present Brewster Street. The harbor was protected on its south and east flanks by a Fayerweather Island that then included what is now the west end of Seaside Park. To the west and south was another landmass known as Lewis Island, which washed away during the course of the 18th century leaving only the treacherous shoal known as Penfield Reef. After the bar across the mouth of Bridgeport Harbor was dredged in the mid-19th century, Black Rock Harbor slipped into secondary importance. Cedar Creek is a navigable waterway through the city's West End that connects with Black Rock Harbor. In its natural state it was very similar to Lewis Gut in the East End and separated a salt marsh from a barrier beach (the present Seaside Park). Beginning in 1878, dikes were constructed and the marshlands drained and filled and the waterway turned into a virtual canal to create a second harbor for a new factory district, under the auspices of P.T. Barnum. Burr Creek was a northerly arm of Cedar Creek that extended as far as Fairfield Avenue. In the 1940s the portion above Yacht Street was filled, and the P.T. Barnum and Evergreen apartment complexes were constructed on the new land. The creek took its name from a 17th-century settler; Burr Road (which formerly included the present Dewey Street and Briarwood Avenue) ran down to its headwaters. A westerly embayment that abuts Ellsworth Field is known as "Brewster's Cove" after Captain Caleb Brewster, whose homestead it adjoined. Ash Creek forms the western limit of the Black Rock neighborhood and separates it from Fairfield. In Colonial times it was known as the "Uncoway River" and formed the main harbor of Fairfield, until the construction of a causeway across it permitted access to the deeper harbor at Black Rock in the 1760s. Although numerous theories have been advanced by historians as to the origins of the name, it is likely that it comes from the red ash trees (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) that are common to this day along its banks. Bridgeport Bight is the collective name for that portion of Long Island Sound offshore from the city between Stratford Point in Stratford and Penfield Reef off Fairfield. In former times these waters were known to have the largest natural-growth oyster beds on the East Coast north of the Chesapeake, source of a major industry in Bridgeport in the 19th and early-20th century.
Islands Fayerweather Island is a -acre wooded island in Long Island Sound connected to Seaside Park by a seawall and forming a natural adjunct to it. The island is the site of the Black Rock Harbor Light. Pleasure Beach (formerly known as Steeplechase Island), is a 71-acre (sometimes) island located in Long Island Sound, to the south of city's East End, and is connected by the Long Beach sandspit to Stratford, Connecticut. Great Marsh Island is a 14-acre island located near the mouth of Ash Creek in the Black Rock neighborhood. South Island (aka 'Lovers Island')is a half-acre island in Bunnell's Pond created by dredging in the 19th century, connected to the mainland by the stone Henry Setzer Memorial Bridge. A corresponding "North Island" became a peninsula with additional dredging in the early 20th century.
Bodies of water Lake Forest (aka Island Brook Reservoir, elevation 165 feet) was created for municipal water supply in 1866 by damming Island Brook. In 1937, after the creation of Easton, Aspetuck, and Hemlock Reservoirs, the 71.4-acre lake had become surplus property, and the watershed lands surrounding it were laid out as a suburban housing development. Charcoal Pond (aka Island Brook Lagoon, elevation 154 feet) lies just below Lake Forest and was created at the same time for purposes of filtering the city's drinking water. Its surface area covers 4.5 acres. Bunnell's Pond (elevation 34 feet) was created in 1828 by damming the Pequonnock River to supply water power to a woolen mill that manufactured carpeting. To the south and west was a mill village that was named Thatchersville, after its progenitor, Daniel Thatcher (the Bunnell family succeeded him). It became the first source of municipal drinking water in 1854. The dam gave way in a flood in 1905 and was replaced by the current structure. It covers 33.4 acres. Lake Success (elevation 47 feet) came into being in 1906 as part of "Powder Park," a 422-acre forested area (known today as 'Remington Woods') that was used to store gunpowder and munitions of the Remington Arms Company a safe distance away from the city's residential areas. The 25-acre lake impounds the water of Old Mill Brook. Stillman's Pond (elevation 21 feet) was made by damming Old Mill Brook in 1812 to power a mill operated by Wyllis Stillman that manufactured shirts for the New York City market. The dam and seven-acre pond were reconfigured when the Remington Arms Company Russian Rifle Plant was erected adjoining it in 1915. The water power at this location powered a grist mill beginning in 1652, the "old mill" commemorated in the names of Old Mill Green and Old Mill Hill. Pembroke Lake (elevation 8 feet) was created by P.T. Barnum in 1862 as part of his real estate development in East Bridgeport. He erected a dam across the upper reaches of the tidal, salt-water Yellow Mill Pond, causing it to fill with fresh water as a pleasant adjunct to "Lake Village," a suburban community that was laid out along Seaview Avenue between Huron Street and Ogden Street Extension. Much of this lake has been filled in for industrial development. Bruce Pond (elevation 16 feet) was created by damming Bruce Brook (aka Stony Brook) at the Bridgeport-Stratford line in 1889. Its main purpose was as a source of ice, cut during the winter months to cool the city's iceboxes. It formerly extended north as far as Barnum Avenue. Asylum Pond (elevation 26 feet) was dug out of a swampy area in the late 1860s to water cattle on what was the Town Poor Farm. Lily Pond (elevation 16 feet) was one of two ponds dug out of marshy ground to provide drainage with the creation of Mountain Grove Cemetery in 1849. Mirror Lake (aka Mummy or Mummichaug Pond—elevation sea level) was created with the first expansion of Seaside Park in 1872. It provides essential drainage to a below-sea-level portion of the park, diked and drained in the manner of a Dutch polder. Originally it was surrounded by a trotting park or racetrack for horses. The colloquial name comes from a type of minnow that could be gathered here in abundance and used for bait.