Bridgeport developed after the 1840s, when European Americans established a riverboat landing here along the Tennessee River.

Within a few years, a small hamlet known as "Jonesville" had developed around the landing, and included a trading post, gristmill, warehouses, and several saloons.

[2] Fluctuating river levels made riverboat trade unreliable, and area merchants began campaigning for railroad access in the late 1840s.

Construction of a second rail line connecting Bridgeport with Jasper, Tennessee, to the north, began in 1860, but was not completed until after the Civil War.

[3] Because of its location on both a rail line and the Tennessee River, Bridgeport was a strategic site during the Civil War.

The rail bridge at Bridgeport was among those targeted by the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy in November 1861.

[3] The city was burned by Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg in the Summer of 1863, but it was reoccupied by Union forces.

[5] In the early 1880s, brothers Frank and Walter Kilpatrick, investors from New York, along with their father, Edward, established a lumber company in Bridgeport.

Believing the city's location and resources had extraordinary potential for development, the Kilpatricks began buying up land in the area.

The construction of the nearby Widows Creek Power Plant by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1950s brought a small housing boom to the city.

[2] On January 22, 1999, at 10:02 A.M, three people were killed, at least eight more were critically injured, and three buildings were leveled when a gas pipeline exploded in downtown Bridgeport.

U.S. Route 72 connects Bridgeport with South Pittsburg across the Tennessee state line to the north, and Stevenson to the southwest.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

The Bridgeport Depot Museum is home to railroad memorabilia as well as a range of local artifacts.

The museum, operated by the Bridgeport Area Historical Association, is located on the site of the town's fourth railroad depot, which was constructed in 1917.