Bridgeport
()
About this ebook
Andrew Pehanick
Bridgeport native Andrew Pehanick has been collecting postcards of the city for almost thirty years. He has selected the images in Bridgeport from the nearly three thousand postcards in his collection.
Related to Bridgeport
Related ebooks
Rhode Island Amusement Parks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lake Quinsigamond and White City Amusement Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConey Island Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5St. Petersburg's Piers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClifton Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNewport Revisited Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Amusement Parks of New York City: Beyond Coney Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Look Up, Newport! A Walking Tour of Newport, Rhode Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kennebunks in Vintage Postcards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmusement Parks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrosse Ile Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Old Orchard Beach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOcean City, New Jersey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Savannah! A Walking Tour of Savannah, Georgia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lake Compounce Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNewport Beach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Coldwater Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSwampscott Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Portland, Oregon! A Walking Tour West of Broadway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImages of Eastbourne & Beachy Head Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVirginia Beach in Vintage Postcards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South Shore, Rhode Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSalisbury Beach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAshtabula: People and Places Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wildwoods in Vintage Postcards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCascade Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlock Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEaston Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlameda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTybee Island: The Long Branch of the South Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States History For You
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: A National Book Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Three Sisters in Black: The Bizarre True Case of the Bathtub Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untold History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Bridgeport
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Bridgeport - Andrew Pehanick
visit.
INTRODUCTION
My postcard collection started out in the usual way, with the purchase of a single card. I bought that card at the Plaza Stamp and Coin Shop on Main Street, near Capitol Avenue. On the postcard was a picture of the D. H. Sterling Firehouse, with firemen posing in front of their horse-drawn apparatus.
I was always fascinated by the old photographs of Bridgeport on display at the Barnum Museum. I soon discovered that some of these same scenes were made into postcards. I also noticed that many of the photographs used in books about Bridgeport’s history were postcard images. All of the images in this book are postcards from my collection. Most of these cards are printed cards, except for a few that are real-photo postcards.
In this book, I have tried to show as much of the city as possible, and have chosen views of buildings that no longer exist. Bridgeport is rich in history, and these postcards are proof of this. At one time, there existed diverse subject matter for postcards of the city; but piece by piece, Bridgeport seems to be losing its history, rather than preserving it.
In some way, I hope that this work will remind us of how true is the old saying: Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
People are the most important component of our cities, but the buildings we live in and work in are important also. Distinctive architectural landmarks brought visitors to Bridgeport in the past. I hope that the city’s history will come alive for you within the pages of this book.
A crowded busload of tourists travels from Bridgeport to Savin Rock in this generic postcard, mailed in 1908.
One
STEEPLECHASE ISLAND AND PLEASURE BEACH
Originally known as Long Beach, this island was named Pleasure Beach in 1892, when a bicycleracing track was built and amusements were added. In 1903, George C. Tilyou of Coney Island bought the site, and in 1905 he renamed it Steeplechase Island.
This wooden bridge brought people to the island c. 1905. The bridge was later replaced by the present iron swing bridge.
By land or water, this was the only entrance to the island in 1905. The building on the right is the Steeplechase Island Restaurant, part of which extends over the water.
This restaurant was the first sight welcoming visitors as they entered the island. Note the sign on the restaurant: George C. Tilyou’s Steeplechase Island.
Looking north, this boardwalk view shows the aerial swing and the carousel building. On the left is Bridgeport Harbor, with the partly visible wooden bridge that connected the island to the mainland.
This southward view shows the boardwalk crowded with people attired in fancy dress clothes for Baby Show Day in 1911. The building on the left housed the carousel, which must have been very busy on this day.
What was once known as the main street or boulevard was renamed the Trail
in 1905. This road extended the length of the island, with every form of amusement to be found on it.
A Bridgeport Post article dated May 27, 1905, described the ballroom as having no equal in this part of the state.
This elegant building featured a south side encased with mirrors; handsomely figured side walls; and rich, ornamental panels and ceilings. Hundreds of incandescent lights strung from the ceiling gave the building, comprised almost entirely of glass, a brilliant appearance at night.
Another view of