Bridgeport was settled in 1639 and first grew as a fishing community. Later the city's industries diversified. Bridgeport had long been a chief industrial city in Connecticut, but heavy industry declined rapidly after 1970 and the city struggled as more affluent residents fled to the suburbs. Electrical appliances, transportation equipment, clothing, ammunition, metal products, wiring devices, machinery, helicopters, motor vehicles and building materials are still made in Bridgeport.

The Barnum Institute of Science and History commemorates showman P. T. Barnum, who lived in Bridgeport and whose circus wintered there. The University of Bridgeport is also in the city.

Accommodation and restaurants are available in town. Bridgeport is on Long Island Sound in the southwest of Connecticut, 75 km southwest from Hartford and 400 km northeast from Washington D.C.