For more information on Bridgeport, WV, visit the Official Bridgeport Web Site.

HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT

A HISTORY OF A TOWN, A HISTORY OF ITS PEOPLE

Chartered in 1816, incorporated in 1887, Bridgeport (pop. 7,500) is located in north central West Virginia (Harrison County) approximately thirty miles south of Morgantown, at the major intersection of Interstate 79 and U.S. 50. It is approximately two hours north of Charleston, the capital of West Virginia. While retaining its small town atmosphere, Bridgeport continues to grow with its strong retail climate, small businesses, light industry, aerospace industry and professional services. Growth has not jeopardized the family oriented type community that it is. The City Hall is located at 515 W. Main Street. Some interesting historical facts of Bridgeport are as follows:

The town of Bridgeport had its beginning in pre-Revolutionary War times. In 1764, John Simpson entered the area and gave his name to Simpson Creek.

Bridgeport's history is not a history of big industries and exciting events and momentous political decisions. It is instead a progression of people and an account of their activities. Bridgeport itself has not changed in principle since its settlement two hundred years ago. Only the names and the buildings have changed. The greatest difference in the Bridgeport of 1800 and the Bridgeport of now is in its size, for the town has spread outward quickly and continues to grow rapidly in the areas of residential, commercial and industrial developments.

Descendants of many of the town's first settlers still live in and around Bridgeport and some of the original land claims still belong to the claimant's descendants. But the Bridgeport of today offers new faces every week, for the current population is fairly transient. Young executives find in Bridgeport an attractive home, but soon they are transferred, and new families take their places.

Bridgeport's downtown is still along the same highway of the late 1800s. The signs on the buildings have changed, old buildings have been torn down and replaced, and the number of stores along Main Street has fluctuated. The general stores, which once lined Main Street, have yielded to current trends, and now the buildings house professional offices and more specialized commercial businesses.

Two periods in Bridgeport's history stand out-the late 1800s and the 1920s.

The late 1800s must have been good times in Bridgeport. People may not have had a great deal of money, but almost all were property owners and some owned quite expensive tracts of land. Farming was the main livelihood, and the stores in town were mostly general stores designed to serve the area farmers. The town also had a blacksmith and a barber (a man born in slavery), several mills, and two hotels. Now that the Baltimore an Ohio Railroad ran through Bridgeport, cattleman no longer had to drive their livestock all the way to Baltimore. They instead drove their herds into Bridgeport to the stock pens at the railroad depot.

By the 1920s, the tempo of life in Bridgeport had increased slightly. The trolley had come, and that had been an exciting event. Yet Bridgeport was still only a small town. For something to do, the townspeople would sit on the hotel porch and watch the traffic at the depot. Stores and hotels were still meeting places; time for a little neighborliness was still plentiful.

TOWN GOVERNMENT AND SERVICES

When the town of Bridgeport was incorporated in 1887, Sylvester Wright was elected first mayor. Other town officials elected were C. C. Riley, recorder, and Imri Hunt, town sergeant. The first town council was made up of A.D. Fitzhugh, J.W. Coffman, C.W. Johnson, G.W. Graves, and J.B. Martin. Joseph J. Johnson was superintendent of roads and Emanuel Benedum was assessor.

Bridgeport's mayors since 1919 have been:

Jerry Seese 1919
J.B. Whitman 1921
J. Watson Johnson 1923
Cecil W. Gordon 1925
(1925-1927 not listed)
C.W. Golden 1928
J.W. Johnson 1929-1935
J.A. Deegan 1935
J.W. Johnson 1937
Brent S. Bailey 1941-1943
J.A.Deegan 1945
F.E. Higginbotham 1947
J.A.Deegan 1949
Amos E. Morgan 1951
Richard L. Cutlip 1953-1959
Amos E. Morgan 1961-1965
Walter F. Hathaway 1965-1969
Charles Loar 1969
R. Jack Powers 1971
Carl Furbee, Jr. 1973
John H. Hodge 1975
Richard P. Whiteman 1979
Charles M. Loar 1981
Edgar A. Hess 1986
Carl E. Furbee, Jr. 1989
L.J.Timms, Jr. 1997
James Christie 2005 to present

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

When John Simpson entered the Bridgeport area in 1764, he was attracted by the plentiful supply of fur-bearing animals. The men to follow him were also trappers and the fur trade was the first business in what is now Bridgeport. As the settlers came and cleared land, timber was sold, and the lumber trade became another area business.

The first mill of which there is official record is the Bridgeport or Johnson Mill, which Harvey W. Harmer describes as the first mill in Bridgeport in his Old Grist Mills of Harrison County. This gristmill was constructed by James Anderson sometime between 1771 and 1787 on Simpson Creek.

The stockyards were begun in the early 1800s and remained until the mid 1970's. Cattle, sheep, hogs, and even turkeys were driven into Bridgeport from area farms to be sold here or driven on to market. When the railroad came in 1856, the already thriving stockyards became a central shipping point.

The Bridgeport Lamp Chimney Company was succeeded by the Master Glass Company. The Master Glass Company, a marble factory, moved to Bridgeport in 1941 and in 1950 took over the assets of the Akro-Agate Marble Company of Clarksburg. The company manufactured "glass balls for industrial use, colored signal lenses, toy marbles, glass ball reflectors used in highway signs and guard rail posts, and other products for various industrial uses." The company ceased operations in 1973, and the City of Bridgeport bought the property. The building has been torn down, and the former site of the tannery, lamp chimney factory, and marble factory is now a parking lot for the Benedum Civic Center.

CHURCHES

Simpson Creek Baptist Church is recognized as the oldest Baptist church in West Virginia by the West Virginia Baptist Convention and is also generally accepted as being the oldest Protestant church west of the Allegheny Mountains.

The first formal records of the church are dated 1774 and name the Reverend James Sutton as pastor. (He served from 1774 to 1776.)

FAMOUS BRIDGEPORTERS

Many of Bridgeport's native sons have gained fame and renown outside their hometown, while still retaining close ties with Bridgeport. Others who have made a name for themselves elsewhere have chosen Bridgeport as their place to settle and end their work. A representative sample of Bridgeporters who became well known throughout the state or nation would have to include Colonel Benjamin Wilson, Governor Joseph Johnson, and Michael Late Benedum.

A special thanks to Avis Caynor and Ruth Allen who have provided information for this "History" page.