Editing Bridgeport, Alabama (section)

==History==

Bridgeport developed after the 1840s, when European Americans established a riverboat [[landing (water transport)|landing]] here along the [[Tennessee River]].  This landing was a place for local farmers to trade their crops for other goods.  Within a few years, a small hamlet known as "Jonesville" had developed around the landing, and included a [[trading post]], [[gristmill]], warehouses, and several saloons. The Jonesville post office opened in 1852.<ref name=nrhp>Gene Ford, [http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/nrhp/text/02000479.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory Form for Bridgeport Historic District], March 2002, Section 8, pp. 20-25.</ref>

Fluctuating river levels made riverboat trade unreliable, and area merchants began campaigning for railroad access in the late 1840s.  The first rail line reached Jonesville in 1852.  A railroad bridge over the Tennessee River was completed in 1854, connecting the city with [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]]. In recognition of this accomplishment, the name of the city was changed to "Bridgeport."  Construction of a second rail line connecting Bridgeport with [[Jasper, Tennessee]], to the north, began in 1860, but was not completed until after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref name=kaetz>James Kaetz, “[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3072 Bridgeport],” ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'', 2011. Retrieved: September 26, 2016.</ref>

[[File:Destroyed railway bridge in Bridgeport, Alabama (1861).jpg|thumb|left|Railway bridge in Bridgeport destroyed by retreating Confederates, 1861]]

Because of its location on both a rail line and the Tennessee River, Bridgeport was a strategic site during the Civil War. The rail bridge at Bridgeport was among those targeted by the [[East Tennessee bridge burnings|East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy]] in November 1861.<ref name=temple>Oliver Perry Temple, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=g8xYAAAAMAAJ&dq= East Tennessee and the Civil War]'' (R. Clarke Company, 1899), p. 380.</ref> Although this attempt failed,<ref name=temple /> the bridge would be burned twice during the course of the war.<ref name=lambert>Dennis Lambert, “[http://www.historicsouthpittsburgtn.org/Bridgeport.html Bridgeport, Alabama: History],” South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society website, June 2008.</ref>

Bridgeport was the site of [[Siege of Bridgeport|numerous skirmishes]] across 1862 and 1863 when Union General [[Ormsby Mitchel]] seized control of the city, and numerous other small actions over the following year as Confederate forces attempted to regain control of the area.<ref name=kaetz /> The city was burned by Confederate troops under General [[Braxton Bragg]] in the Summer of 1863, but it was reoccupied by Union forces.<ref name=lambert /> In the latter part of the war, Bridgeport was the site of a major Union shipyard that built gunboats and transports for the Union Army.<ref name=kaetz /> The ''[[USS Chattanooga]]'' was built here; it became a vital part of the famous "Cracker Line," which broke the Confederates' siege of [[Chattanooga]] in November 1863.<ref name=lambert />

In the early 1880s, brothers Frank and Walter Kilpatrick, investors from New York, along with their father, Edward, established a lumber company in Bridgeport.  Believing the city's location and resources had extraordinary potential for development, the Kilpatricks began buying up land in the area.  Other investors became interested in the city, and in 1889 the Bridgeport Land and Development Company was incorporated.  This company bought up land and laid out a new grid pattern for the city, which incorporated in 1891.<ref name=nrhp />

Frank Kilpatrick, who became the city's mayor,<ref name=nrhp /> built a series of imposing [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne-style]] houses on the street now known as Kilpatrick Row.<ref>Kelly Kazek, “[http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013/01/home_to_castles_in_the_sky_oft.html Castles in the Sky: Oft-Overlooked Town of Bridgeport is Showplace of Queen Anne Homes],” AL.com, January 2, 2013.</ref>  Several factories, including a pipe works, stove works, rail car works, and planing mill, were built along the river.  The rapid development of Bridgeport came to an abrupt end, however, with the onset of the financial [[Panic of 1893]].  Investors withdrew from the area, and the Bridgeport Land and Improvement Company went out of business.<ref name=nrhp />

Frank Kilpatrick returned to Bridgeport in 1895, and managed to lure some industry to the city.  The [[Mission Revival architecture|Mission Revival-style]] [[Bridgeport Depot Museum|Bridgeport Depot]] was completed in 1917, and two hosiery mills were operating in the city by the 1920s.  The construction of the nearby [[Widows Creek Power Plant]] by the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] in the 1950s brought a small housing boom to the city.<ref name=nrhp />

On January 22, 1999, at 10:02 A.M, three people were killed, at least eight more were critically injured, and three buildings were leveled when a gas pipeline exploded in downtown Bridgeport. Earlier that morning, between 8:15 and 9:15 A.M, the line was damaged when workers digging a trench with a backhoe pulled the line, causing two leaks. Gas filled a building and came in contact with the pilot light of a gas heater, causing the explosion.<ref name="Blast">{{cite web |url=http://jcsentinel.com/news/article_aa76c1de-20e7-11e9-b9e4-c79730faba06.html |title=20 Years Later: Blast Rocks Bridgeport |last=Nevels |first=Brad |date=January 26, 2019 |publisher=Jackson County Sentinel |access-date=November 5, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105212834/http://jcsentinel.com/news/article_aa76c1de-20e7-11e9-b9e4-c79730faba06.html |archive-date=November 5, 2023}}</ref>