The original Bridgeport Town Hall has a new home. Still in Bridgeport, it was moved from its original location on State Street, near the Post Office, to a new site in the Bridgeport Historical Village, on the Dixie Highway next to the Fire Station, in December 2002.Constructed in 1896 as the township's new center of government, the cost of building the town hall was $857.75. The move to its present position in the Historical Village cost about $56,000.
Funding for the move came through grants from several foundations: The AndersenFoundation, the Bridgeport Township Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Citizen's Bank, and the Historical Society of Bridgeport.
The renovation of the hall was under the supervision and capable talents of a group of Historical Society volunteers known as the "Close Enough Construction Company." The old 1896 Town Hall has been used as the Bridgeport Charter Township governmental center, polling-place, meeting-room, theater, church, a school, the Bridgeport Boys Band's music room, a dance hall, the public library, the V.F.W. Hall, and the Historical Society of Bridgeport's Museum.
A Genealogy Research Center has been set up in the back room of the Town Hall, in memory of Merlin Allen and Nancy Van Wormer, two longtime members of the Historical Society of Bridgeport. It contains township records and other historical data in hard copy, books and microfilm.
This building can be rented for parties, weddings, or meetings. Call the museum 777-5230.
