National Register Listing

Bridgeport Downtown North Historic District

a.k.a. See Also:Fairfield County Courthouse;Hotel Beach

Roughly bounded by Congress, Water, Fairfield Ave., Elm, Golden Hill & Chapel Sts., Bridgeport, CT

The district is significant because it encompasses one of two large groupings of structures that effectively illustrate the emergence of downtown Bridgeport as the commercial, financial, cultural, and social heart of one of Connecticut's foremost early 20th-century urban-industrial and regional-government centers. For example, the area's continuing expansion as an important regional center between the end of the Civil War and the early 20th century is clearly marked by the progression of historic architectural styles exhibited by its various buildings. Structures such as the Italianate-style Newfield Building (1871/21) at 1180-88 Main Street, the Italian-ate/Queen Anne-style Winton Building (1885/86) at 245-62 Middle Street, the Richardsonian Romanesque-style Bridgeport Boys Club (1900) at 227-41 Middle Street, the Colonial Revival-style F.B. Curtis Building (1928) at 1155-59 Main Street, and the Art Deco-style U.S. Post Office (1934) at 140 Middle Street combine to provide a coherent, graphic record of the pre-World War II evolution of the district. Several individual district buildings also reflect key aspects of downtown Bridgeport's development prior to the onset of World War II. For example, downtown Bridgeport's highly important role as the seat of Fairfield County remains clearly marked by the massive grandeur of the Richardsonian Romanesque style Fairfield County Courthouse (1888) at 172-92 Golden Hill Street.

The district is also significant because it encompasses a large number of substantially intact buildings which chart the development of a variety of popular 19th-and early 20th-century urban architectural styles, including the Italianate, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque, late Gothic Revival, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Neoclassical, and Art Deco modes. A number of these buildings rank as particularly good and, in some cases, outstanding individual examples of several of these styles. For example, the 1871/72 Newfield Building at 1180-88 Main Street is a fine example of a relatively large brick and cut-stone commercial structure executed in the late Italianate style. Full-blown versions of the early and late Richardsonian Romanesque style are represented respectively by the 1888 Fairfield County Courthouse at 172-92 Golden Hill Street and by the 1900 Bridgeport Boys Club at 227-41 Middle Street. Two outstanding examples of the Art-Deco style are the 1927/28 Hotel Barnum at 140 Fairfield Avenue and the 1934 U.S. Post Office at 140 Middle Street. While in need of extensive rehabilitation, the 1872 Italianatestyle Winghoffer Building at 70-81 Gold Street holds a unique place in Bridgeport's building history: it was the first structure in the city to incorporate a front elevation faced completely in cast stone.

Finally, the district is architecturally significant because a number of its buildings stand as important examples of the work of late 19th- and/or early 20th-century architects. Foremost among these structures is the Warren Briggs-designed 1888 Fairfield County Courthouse at 172-92 Golden Hill Street and 1900 Bridgeport Boys Club at 227-41 Middle Street; the Hotel Barnum at 140 Fairfield Avenue, which was designed by the firm Thomas, Martin, and Kirkpatrick; and Charles Wellington Walker's 1934 U.S. Post Office at 140 Middle Street.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1987.