Bridgeport City Hall

Bridgeport's old City Hall is actually the cross-product of two designs, the late Greek Revival design of A.J. Davis and Joseph Northzop's 1905 Neo-Classical reconstruction. Davis was one of the most outstanding architects of the 19th century. He is best remembered for his romantic Gothic creations, but he produced many designs for public and commercial buildings in classical styles. Even when designing temple-form buildings, Davis gave free rein to his romantic impulses, as was well illustrated by this building - the bold frieze, the wildly projecting cornice, the brackets, and the fanciful dome. Although these features were removed, the most characteristic part of the original design remains the tall, narrow sets of windows between masonry piers which the architect himself called the Devisean window. The vertically of the windows creates a Gothic suggestion, and indeed, such windows are found in his Gothic Revival commercial buildings. The development of class curtain walls is pre-figured in Davis's designs, although there was little actual continuity. Many of his commercial designs were rejected. His proposal for the York Commercial Exchange is remarkably similar to Bridgeport City Hall and points up the value of this building as an example of Davis's designs for public and commercial buildings.

Joseph Northrop tried to make the building more serious and disciplined. He moderated the verticality of the windows by removing one mullion. He replaced the fret with a more restrained and more properly classical design, and he trimmed down the cornice projection. What was left was a solid, dignified building. Once Davis's frivolities were removed, the temple form and the mass of the masonry appealed to the Neo-Classical aesthetic. Cass Gilbert thought it was the best building in the city. Northrop was a prominent Bridgeport architect who designed among others the Fott building, Lexington Avenue, New York City.

The building also has local historical significance. It was built by the town and donated to the Fairfield County Court in order to insure that Bridgeport would be the principal seat of county government. As a by-product of this inducement for the county, the town received a place to conduct its business, as well as a place of public assembly (Lincoln spoke here). Not until the 1960s was a new city hall built, and even today the building is occupied by municipal offices.

The building was renamed in 1966 for Jasper McLevy, a Socialist who was mayor of Bridgeport for three decades.