The "Area Known As Bridgeport" Story

It was an ordinary day.  "The Scribbler" has just written a column in the Lancaster Newspaper that is titled 'Is it still called Bridgeport?'  "The Scribbler" writes a column a few times a week on the editorial page of our local newspaper where he answers questions that are emailed or snail mailed to him from readers of the newspaper.  My guess is he is about my age and therefore qualifies to answer questions from years ago.  Well, I could have helped him with today's question since my Aunt Lillian and Uncle Bud along with my cousins Judy and George lived in Bridgeport years ago.  Lillian and Bud have both died and Judy moved from Bridgeport years ago, but George only recently moved from the area.  Bridgeport is located just off the Lincoln Highway to the east of Lancaster City.  The Lincoln Highway was the first U.S. turnpike and the bridge that crossed the Conestoga River at that point was the first tollgate on the turnpike.  It is a populated area that sports a latitude of 40.039 and a longitude of -76.265 according to an internet site and has an elevation of 358 feet.  If you head east from the center of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, you will cross the Conestoga River in about eight to ten minutes and the intersection after the bridge is called Bridgeport.  At least that is what I called it.  To the left at that point is Pitney Road and to the right is Lampeter Road.  Aunt Lillian's house was on the Pitney Road side of intersection or to the north of Lincoln Highway.  Uncle Bud ran a body shop and behind it were quite a few old cars that he used to take parts from to repair others.  I always called it a junk yard, but my mom and dad warned me not to say that in front of Uncle Bud, since he was rather sensitive about his area being called a junk yard.  Directly behind the junk yard was the Conestoga River.  In June of 1972 Hurricane Agnes arrived and caused the greatest flooding in Lancaster's history and totally covered Aunt Lillian's house.  All that could be seen was the top of her chimney.  Uncle Bud's body shop was totally submerged.  Carol and I got a call from my mom and dad earlier in the morning telling us that the river was rising and asked if we could help Aunt Lillian and Uncle Bud move their belongings to higher ground.  

This photo was taken at another area in Lancaster, PA known
as Engleside which is located to the south of the city.  It too
was ravaged by the power of the Conestoga River during
Hurricane Agnes.  I did not take, or could I find, any photos
of the Bridgeport area after the storm.

I can also remember standing in their house,  looking down the basement steps and seeing the swirling water as it was rising.  A few minutes after that we were standing on the road in front of their house, which was a few feet higher, and watching the water rise on the concrete blocks that were the walls of their home.  Finally had to move to higher ground as the river continued to rise.  They salvaged their home with new drywall and wiring and I eventually put aluminum siding on the concrete blocks for them with the help of Judy's husband.  George remained in the home for years after his mom and dad died, but put all his alliances and the heating and cooling systems, which were in the basement, on rollers so he could remove them quickly if needed.  He also built a larger access ramp into the basement.  The river has risen since that date in 1972 and George has had to remove everything from the basement, but the water level never reached the historic height that it did that fateful day.  The Conestoga River that flowed through Bridgeport was named after a small tribe of Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannock people whom I called Indians.  The name Sasquesahanough meant "people of the muddy river".  Pretty fitting, so it was.  It was in 1763 that the first steamboat in America floated on the river and the river gained recognition with the spread of the Conestoga Wagon. In 1813 a small group of houses were built along the Conestoga near a bridge that Abraham Witmer had built.  It is said that the village, which was the houses, became known as Bridgeport.  That bridge has since been rebuilt, but the houses along it still remain along with many more.  In the early 1900s the steamboat Lady Gay carried passengers from Witmer's Bridge to People's Park and Rocky Springs.  I still call the area Bridgeport as do my relatives, but if you Google it, you will find very little about the area known as Bridgeport.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.