AUTHOR OF THE HISTORIES OF WOLCOTT, TORRINGTON, NEW MILFORD, DERBY AND INDIANS OF THE HOUSATONIC VALLEY. PART II. PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 1886. US 14893.55.5 (2) + 14843,86,5 HARVARD COLLEGE APR 9 1887 Bright - Fund PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN. CHAPTER XXI. THE CITY OF BRIDGEPORT. VERDRAWN pictures being unseemly in history, and there being no room in this book for mere' word paintings, the substantial facts are given as the most agreeable and lasting to a prosperous city. Bridgeport, as a city, was incorporated by act of the General Assembly in May, 1836, under the name of "The Mayor, Aldermen, Common Council, and Freemen of the City of Bridgeport." By several changes made, the incorporate title now is "The City of Bridgeport," and the title of its authoritative body is "The Common Council of the City of Bridgeport." The city is located on Long Island Sound, fifty-two miles from New York City, and is a seaport town, with a good harbor. It is built upon a sandy and gravelly soil, and therefore, as well as from all its surroundings, is a healthy locality. It is spread over a large territory, for the number of its inhabitants, and has many square miles of available territory adjoining it on three sides east, north, and west, for its indefinite expansion. It has three good sized parks within its limits-two of which are remarkably picturesque; its streets are of good width, many of them made more so in appearance by the dwellings standing unusually distant from the streets; and the character and style of the public buildings are more than commonly elegant, and significant of enterprise and taste. A marked feature of its private buildings is that of double residences with ample space and yards about them, which in the summer time, being ornamented profusely with flowers and shrubbery, |