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The Hotel Beach, also known historically as the Hotel Barnum, is a historic hotel building at 140 Fairfield Ave. in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is a thirteen-story
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
tower built in 1927 and designed by Thomas, Martin & Kirkpatrick. It is one of the city's outstanding Art Deco buildings, built when the city was at its peak. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1978. and It is a
contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
in the
Bridgeport Downtown North Historic District The Bridgeport Downtown North Historic District encompasses a portion of the commercial downtown of Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is roughly bounded on the north by Congress Street, the east by Water and Middle Streets, the south by Fairfield Av ...
, NRHP-listed in 1987. It is currently a residential apartment building called Barnum House.


Description and history

The former Hotel Beach is located on the north side of downtown Bridgeport, facing south toward Fairfield Avenue between Main and Broad Streets. IT is a thirteen-story building, with a steel and concrete frame covered in colored bricks. Its main tower has two ten-story protruding sections, and is flanked on either side by eight-story sections, giving the building a stepped appearance. The second story facade consists of a band of Romanesque round-arch windows. The interior of the second floor, which housed the hotel's lobby, retains many period features and finishes. The hotel was built in 1927-29 to a design by the New York firm Thomas, Martin & Kirkpatrick, which had a track record of hotel design. It was originally named for the landowner, businessman Francis Beach, but was soon renamed in honor of Bridgeport booster
P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
. Because it was built just before the Great Depression, it was foreclosed on just a year after its 1929 opening.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Bridgeport, Connecticut __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in the city of Bridgeport, ...


References

{{National Register of Historic Places Art Deco architecture in Connecticut Art Deco hotels Hotel buildings completed in 1927 Buildings and structures in Bridgeport, Connecticut Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut