Click image to enlarge. Shown is a Spanish-Mission-style train depot saved and restored by the Bridgeport Area Historical Society. The community of Bridgeport is perhaps the most pristine of the state's late nineteenth-century speculative "boom towns." Ideally situated on the Tennessee River and at the intersection of two railroad lines, Bridgeport seemed a sure bet in the 1880s to several New York and New England capitalists looking for a good investment. Indus tries sprang up overnight--from a stoveworks to a wire nail manufacturer to a basket and package company--until growth came to a sudden halt with the Panic of 1893-94. During the subsequent depression, industries pulled out. T he railroad remained, of course, and continued to bring a measure of prosperity to the town, but its heyday was over. Today, Bridgeport retains its Victorian ambiance, including outstanding examples of late nineteenth-century architecture and a turn-of-the century commercial district.
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