Bridgeport Schools

Though the Bridgeport community dates from 1860, documentation of early schools is incomplete. There are accounts of schools held in private homes, some churches, and the Masonic Lodge at its original site in Old Bridgeport along the Trinity River. In 1882, a two—room school costing $1,800 was built near the company store in Od Town. The school had a dirt floor and log seats. Teacher salaries were paid for by subscription of the students. After Bridgeport relocated to the east along the Rock Island Railroad, a new school site was selected in 1894 at Cates and 11th Streets on Methodist Hill. In 1902, a bond election passed for a new school, which was a two-story frame building with seven classrooms and an assembly hall. A larger brick school, completed in 1910, was three stories with 13 rooms for a cost of $25.000. The Texas Legislature created the Bridgeport Independent School District in 1917. When nearby coal mines were at their peak of activity and many families of miners from Mexico were recruited to the area, William John gave land near the mines for a school named Mexican School No. 1 Camp No. 1. In 1930, this separate school closed and all students attended schools in Bridgeport. A new school on Carpenter Street was completed in 1929 and, besides classrooms, included a tax office, Superintendent’s office and an assembly hall. Later campus improvements included a gym, band hall, homemaking cottage and agriculture building. Bridgeport athletic teams took the unusual name “Bullies” (later “Bulls”) and “Sissies.” The Carpenter Street campus was the High School until 1958, then became a middle school, additional district purposes, and later a city facility. Area schools continue to provide an educational and social focus for the community.