BlockBridgeport, Illinois
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Bridgeport Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62417. The Survey maps it on the Sumner quadrangle. 1,800 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 449 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBridgeport fell from 1,886 to 1,800 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,886 | |
| 2020 | 1,800 | -86 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1911 USGS Sumner quadrangle1:62500
- 1913 USGS Sumner quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Sumner quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
12,589 words on this townshipCombined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois. With Illustrations ... and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Bridgeport Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Is located on parts of sections 8-9, (T. 3 - 12), on the line of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. The original proprietors were David D. Lanterman and Aaron Shaw. They had the town laid out and platted by Walter Buchanan, County Surveyor, in the summer of 1854. During the building of the O. & M. R. R., the company erected five or six shanties on the north side of the road, (which have since been torn down), and John Burk, one of the foremen, named it Bridgeport, from the bridge crossing Indian creek at this point, and a year later, when the town was laid out, the name was continued.
Passage source: Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois. With Illustrations ... and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1883.
Corporation. Bridgeport was incorporated by sper ial act of the Legislature, Feb. 16th, 1865, by the name and style of "The Town of Bridgeport." The government being vested in five trustees, to be elected by the voters of the town, on the .first Monday in April, of each year; also to elect one Police Magistrate, and town Constable. The corporate trustees were M. D. Frazier, Gideon Schleuker, Lyman Utter, G. W. Cooper, jr., and William Lockwood. The present board at this writing, (March, 1883), are John A. Baird, president of the board, Theo. Smith, Martin Eshelmau, B F. Watson and Adolph Schmalhausen. Carl Busse, Clerk and Police Magistrate. William Gray, Constable.
Passage source: Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois. With Illustrations ... and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1883.
Bridgeport City Milk, was built by J. L. Coleman, about twenty-five years ago. The present proprietors are J. D. Sage & Son. They purchased the mill in 1873. It is a three-story building, operated by steam, and contains three run of burrs, one set of rolls and two purifiers, and is both a custom and merchant mill. "Sages Pride" and several other brands find a ready market in Cincinnati, besides many local points. Capacity, 100 barrels per twenty four hours.
Passage source: Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois. With Illustrations ... and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1883.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Bridgeport Township - it names this place 2 more 2 times.
Fires near this place
3 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Bridgeport between 2008 and 2010, burning about 2 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | MICHAEL |
| 24 June 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | GOSNELL |
| 29 January 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | GARDNER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Bridgeport: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawerence County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lawrenceville Plant | Sulfur | Producer |
Storms near this place
28 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bridgeport in 28 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 19 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 3 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | $30,000 | Numerous trees were blown down in Bridgeport. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | $30,000 | Several trees and large tree limbs were blown down. A small shed was destroyed, and the roof was blown off a pole barn. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | $20,000 | Trees were uprooted or snapped. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | $20,000 | Several large trees were snapped in Bridegport. |
| October 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | $15,000 | Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Measured gust occurred at Lawrenceville Airport. |
| October 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | $12,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. |
| July 1999 | Flash Flood | Bridgeport | $12,000 | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Flash Flood | Bridgeport | - | South Main Street on the south side of Bridgeport just south of the railroad tracks was closed due to flooding from Indian Creek. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | A few trees were blown over. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | A large tree and power lines were blown down. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | A hollow oak tree blew down onto power lines causing a power outage. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | A few trees were blown down. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Several trees were blown over or snapped. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Two large trees were blown down near Bridgeport. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Five power poles were blown down along US-50 just west of Lawrenceville. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Numerous trees were blown down. Two trees fell on top of vehicles. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Several trees and power lines were blown down. |
| September 2004 | Flash Flood | Bridgeport | - | 1 to 2 inches of rain fell in a short period of time over Lawrence County from Sumner to just west of Lawrenceville. The heavy rain caused Route 250 between Bridgeport and Lawrenceville to become flooded. |
| September 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. No injuries were reported. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees and tree limbs. One large tree limb fell onto a house causing minor damage. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | Numerous large tree limbs were blown down in Bridgeport. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Hail | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgeport | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grisold (historical) | 3.9 miles | 17 | |
| Petrolia | 3.9 miles | 12 | |
| Lawrenceville | 4.5 miles | 17 | |
| Grays Corner | 4.8 miles | 17 | |
| Sumner | 5.4 miles | 13 | |
| Jackson | 5.9 miles | 17 | |
| Applegate | 6.3 miles | 12 | |
| Billett | 6.4 miles | 17 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Bridgeport | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q575988 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 404853. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.