Bridgeport is a town in Crawford County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States. The population was 946 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

is located in the town.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of 23.3 square miles (60.4 km²), of which, 20.3 square miles (52.7 km²) of it is land and 3.0 square miles (7.7 km²) of it (12.78%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 946 people, 346 households, and 265 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 46.5 people per square mile (18.0/km²). There were 380 housing units at an average density of 18.7 per square mile (7.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.31%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.11%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.42% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.21% of the population. There were 346 households, out of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.4% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.12. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.8% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,313, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $33,438 versus $20,909 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $21,854. About 1.6% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.

Landmarks

The Bridgeport Bridge was an unusually long bridge in Bridgeport that was documented by the

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). It administers three programs established to document historic places in the United States: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American E ...

. It brought U.S. Highway 18 across the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 b ...

in nine spans over the main channel and an additional span over a slough and an island. In 1983, it was one of the last five

Pennsylvania Truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

bridges in Wisconsin, but it and all but one of the others were demolished by 1993.

In Popular Culture

Bridgeport is the scene of a lengthy pastoral episode in Clifford D. Simak's 1951 science fiction novel Time and Again. The protagonist of the novel stays in Bridgeport for ten years, between 1976 and 1986.

References

{{authority control Towns in Crawford County, Wisconsin Towns in Wisconsin